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The snake enters into an argument with the frog, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-sixth Night

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance

Dominant colour

The snake enters into an argument with the frog, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-sixth 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 snake coiled around a frog in a dark cave, rocks looming above them. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales made for Emperor Akbar’s court. The black background isn’t just empty space—it’s meant to feel like a cave mouth, pulling you into the underground fight. The story goes that the frog king asked the snake for help, but the snake got hungry and turned on him. Look up *Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)* to see more of these tiny, lively scenes.

The story of this work

Overview

Cave compositions were replicated for multiple types of scenes in India, based on Persian models like the Shah-nama painting CMA 1988.96.a . The black background of the caves in the Tuti-nama provides the viewer a window into a subterranean space, the mouth of which is shown amid the rocks above. Shapur, the exiled frog tyrant, asked a snake to devour his enemies. However, when the snake became hungry again, he ate Shapur’s friends and family. Without any subjects to rule, the frog escaped his dangerous ally and lived out his life, sad and alone.