Artwork
The prince meets a carefree dancing dervish whose good fortune he purchases for his ring, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The prince meets a carefree dancing dervish whose good fortune he purchases for his ring, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
It serves as an illustration for the Eighteenth Night of the Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot), depicting a prince encountering a dancing dervish.
Created in 1560 within the Mughal Empire, this work is classified as a painting. It serves as an illustration for the Eighteenth Night of the Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot), depicting a prince encountering a dancing dervish. The piece is part of a manuscript tradition, specifically identified as folio 131.b of the Cleveland Museum of Art's holdings.
While the specific pigment composition or brushwork details are not detailed in the provided records, the work represents the Mughal painting style of the mid-sixteenth century.
History & Provenance
Created in 1560 within the Mughal Empire, this painting forms part of an illustrated manuscript of the Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot). The specific folio depicting the prince and the dancing dervish was executed by an artist whose identity remains unrecorded in surviving documentation. The work eventually entered the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is cataloged under the accession number 1962.279.131.b. No further details regarding its original commission, intermediate ownership history, or the specific circumstances of its acquisition by the museum are provided in the available records.
Overview
The work depicts a forest scene in which two figures interact: a man in vivid orange robes extends a hand holding a ring, while a shirtless figure in red trousers performs an exuberant dance, his leg lifted high. Nearby, a deer and a tiger sit placidly, and birds occupy a tree branch. The setting is framed by a green backdrop dotted with flowers and a border of red circles.
Subject & Meaning
The composition draws from a narrative episode in the Persian collection known as the Tuti‑nama, or "Tales of a Parrot," specifically the episode titled "Eighteenth Night." The exchange of the ring suggests a transaction of good fortune, while the dancing figure’s open posture conveys a sense of carefree joy or spiritual liberation associated with dervish traditions.
Context
Within the broader visual culture of Persian storytelling, scenes of dervishes and princely figures often symbolize the meeting of worldly authority with spiritual spontaneity. The inclusion of wildlife such as deer and tiger underscores themes of harmony between human activity and the natural world, a common motif in courtly literature.
Artist & collection
- The prince meets a carefree dancing dervish whose good fortune he purchases for his ring, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
Nikfal, the fortune of the prince in the form of a woman, offers to accompany him, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The prince, with the help of Mukhlis who changes into a frog, recovers the ring lost in the sea, and returns it to the king, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
Nikfal, the fortune of the prince in the form of a woman, offers to accompany him, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The prince and Nikfal are joined by Khalis and the Mukhlis who are the grateful snake and frog in human form, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
Khalis repays the prince for his kindness by changing into a snake and sucking the poison from the king’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The prince and Nikfal are joined by Khalis and the Mukhlis who are the grateful snake and frog in human form, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The monk returns the magic parrot to its rightful owner, the merchant, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
The magic parrot of the merchant talks to the vizier’s son, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
The wife of the son of the vizier brings the magic wooden parrot to her lover, the monk, who exchanges it for the replica, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
The dervish brings in as dowry an elephant laden with gold, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventh Night
The Brahman gives an account of his falling in love with the king of Babylon’s daughter to his friend, the magician, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fifth Night
The Brahman gives an account of his falling in love with the king of Babylon’s daughter to his friend, the magician, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fifth Night
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-third night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The bird of seven colors brings a sable to the pious man, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night