The snake, hidden in a basket of flowers, reveals himself to the Raja who has just sent away his wife, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-third Night
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a richly dressed king in a palace, staring at a black cobra coiled beside his bed while a basket of flowers tips over. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told to Emperor Akbar’s court. The snake is there to kill the king—but when the king explains why he hurt the snake’s wife, the snake spares him and gives him a gift instead. To see more stories like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
