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The pious man’s son, now a king, reveals himself to his father; his nurse upbraids his unfaithful mother, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance Religious

Dominant colour

The pious man’s son, now a king, reveals himself to his father; his nurse upbraids his unfaithful mother, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night is a 1560 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1560 · Mughal Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a crowded room in a palace: a young king kneels before an old man, while a woman in a green dress scolds another woman in red. This painting tells a story from a *Tuti-nama*, or *Tales of a Parrot*, a book of fables Emperor Akbar loved. The nurse saved the boy from his mother’s plot, and years later, he returns as a king. The bright colors and tiny details were meant to impress the emperor’s court. To see more art like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).

The story of this work

Overview

The young man throws himself at his overjoyed father’s feet. As a boy, he was nearly killed by his treacherous mother, who hoped to please her lover. The nurse, learning of her plan, took the child and fled to safety. In the intervening years, he killed a dragon, married a princess, and became a king. The king’s success is attributed to a magical, seven-colored bird’s head, which he ate as a child.