The merchant’s daughter meets the gardener, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twelfth Night

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)

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Medium

gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Measurements

Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 9.8 x 10.1 cm (3 7/8 x 4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.100.b

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

In the time since their first meeting, the gardener has become an ascetic.

Description

Persian books are read from right to left. One artist illustrated the three scenes from one of the 52 stories of the Tuti-nama, retaining many pre-Mughal traits. Trees stand out as bold shapes, and figures are arranged in a single register, or horizontal spatial band, and have angular and expressive gestures. The figures of the women are closely related to pre-Mughal types, shown always in profile and wearing garments that stand stiffly and sharply out before them. In leaves from the Tuti-nama, Mughal artists adapted the colors, compositions, and figure types of the earlier style.