The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-seventh Night, form a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A woman in a red dress sits on the floor, her hand raised as if listening. A bright green parrot perches on a stand beside her, beak open like it’s mid-sentence. A small dish of wrapped leaves sits nearby. This painting is from a book of stories told by a parrot to keep its owner from sneaking out at night. The parrot’s tales are so good, she stays put until dawn. The details—like the chewed betel leaves—show how people lived and passed time in royal courts. To see more of these lively scenes, look up mughal india, court of akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
