The parrot laughs on hearing the Raja of Ujjain’s wife admire her beauty in a mirror, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot: Forty-sixth Night
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a woman in a jeweled robe holding a mirror, while a green parrot perches beside her and seems to laugh. The painting comes from a book of stories told by a parrot to delay a queen’s secret meeting. Here, the parrot mocks the queen’s vanity, setting off a wild quest. The colors are bright and flat, like a comic strip, so every detail pops. If you like this scene, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) to see more paintings from the same time.
