Artwork Page for The lion disturbed by mice who eat the food trapped in his aging teeth, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifteenth Night

Details / Information for The lion disturbed by mice who eat the food trapped in his aging teeth, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifteenth Night

The lion disturbed by mice who eat the food trapped in his aging teeth, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifteenth Night

c. 1560

India, Mughal court, 16th century

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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: 7.7 x 10.1 cm (3 1/16 x 4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.113.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

This story takes place in China

Description

In a scene that was overpainted to suit the taste of the emperor Akbar for soft modeling and a naturalistic sky, a tiger lies in a pink clearing, while mice run around him to pick at his teeth. The artist has depicted a tiger instead of a lion, the two often being interchangeable in Indian art. In the story, the lion had grown old and suffered from cavities, into which his food would get stuck. Mice would come and feed on those morsels between his teeth and disturb his sleep.
A vertically oriented book page features Persian script in the upper half and in the lower, a tempera painting depicting a striped big cat reclining on a pink mound with its mouth open. Small gray mice crawl around and inside the animal. Behind, rounded pale rocks and a leafy green tree stand against a deep blue background. A thin red and gold border frames the entire composition against the cream-colored paper.

The lion disturbed by mice who eat the food trapped in his aging teeth, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifteenth Night

c. 1560

India, Mughal court, 16th century

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