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The queen of Rum watches the peahen prefer to burn rather than abandon her eggs while the peacock flees the nest, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-ninth Night, by Unknown, unspecified, 1560

The queen of Rum watches the peahen prefer to burn rather than abandon her eggs while the peacock flees the nest, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-ninth Night

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Overview

The queen of Rum watches the peahen prefer to burn rather than abandon her eggs while the peacock flees the nest, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-ninth 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 queen on a palace balcony watching a peahen burn rather than leave her eggs, while the peacock flees. The story comes from a book of parrot tales told to Emperor Akbar’s court. The queen decides men are cowards and swears off marriage. Bright colors and tiny details show how much care went into each figure. To see more paintings like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).

The story of this work

Overview

The queen of Rum sits in the upper balcony of her palace watching the fire in her garden with shock. Two female attendants observe the action from the room below. The cowardliness of the peacock in the face of danger convinced the queen of the disloyalty of men. As a result, she vowed to never marry.

Did you know?

Rum is the Arabic name of Rome and once designated the Byzantine Empire.

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

More by Unknown

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