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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

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance Allegory Made for Prince Salim

Dominant colour

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 is a 1560 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, depicting Made for Prince Salim, 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 prince handing a ring to a king on a throne, while a frog watches from a walled harbor. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales made for Emperor Akbar’s court. The frog isn’t just decoration—it’s a servant who shape-shifted to dive for the lost ring. The artist filled the scene with tiny details: lotus flowers swirling in the water, a boatman bailing his boat. If you like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) for more paintings from the same world.

The story of this work

Overview

The prince arrived at a royal capital, where he pledged to assist the local king in any tasks. One day, when fishing at sea, the king dropped a precious ring into the water. The prince asked his servant, the frog, to retrieve it. At the left, the prince respectfully returns the ring to the king on his throne. The frog is at the entrance of the walled harbor to the sea, where a boatman bails water. Lotus flowers have been painted among the swirling eddies.