1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The young man changes himself to look like Mansur, and thus inveigles himself into the bed of Mansur’s wife, but is put off by her, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventeenth Night is a 1560 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man kneels on a richly patterned bed, pretending to be someone else. A woman lies beside him, turning away with a hand to her head. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told in Mughal India. The story is about trickery and quick thinking—here, the wife spots the fake husband because his behavior doesn’t match his face. The bright colors and fine details show how artists in Emperor Akbar’s court told stories with pictures. To see more art from this time, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
The lascivious young man who magically transformed himself to have the appearance of Mansur the merchant kneels on an arabesque-patterned bed with Mansur’s wife. Although he looks like her husband, his actions and personality are different, so the woman suspects something is amiss and feigns illness to stall the imposter’s advances.
The imposter offers the woman a packet of paan to freshen her breath before love play.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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