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The woman conversing with her children, as the leopard returns, egged on by a fox who is tied to his leg, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirtieth Night

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance Allegory

Dominant colour

The woman conversing with her children, as the leopard returns, egged on by a fox who is tied to his leg, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirtieth 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 woman talking to her kids while a leopard creeps toward them, a fox tied to its leg urging it on. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told in Mughal India. The woman outsmarts the leopard twice—first by pretending to be a hyena in human form. The bright colors and busy scene were made for Emperor Akbar’s court, where artists mixed Persian and Indian styles. To see more stories like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).

The story of this work

Overview

For the second time, the leopard appears in hopes of eating the woman and her children. Previously, he had fled after falling for the woman’s clever trick. He returns with the fox’s encouragement but is tricked again by the shrewd woman who convinces him that she is a hyena in human form.