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The unfaithful wife explaining away the presence of the dough elephant, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance

Dominant colour

The unfaithful wife explaining away the presence of the dough elephant, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth 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

A woman kneels in a courtyard, holding a tray with a dough elephant. Her husband sits beside her, listening as she talks. A boy watches from the shadows. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told in Mughal India. The story is wild: the wife cheated, then lied about the elephant-shaped pastry to cover her tracks. The artist made the scene feel like a quiet moment, not a scandal. To see more stories like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).

The story of this work

Overview

A woman who has just committed adultery on the way to bring her husband his meal must explain why she fashioned his pastry into the shape of an elephant. She was not aware that her lover’s son had done this, but thinking quickly, she explained that she had a dream that eating the elephant would protect him from danger. He accepts this lie and thanks his wife for her kindness.