Artwork Page for The Brahman’s wife who killed a peacock and ate its gallbladder on the physician’s advice, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Nineteenth Night

Details / Information for The Brahman’s wife who killed a peacock and ate its gallbladder on the physician’s advice, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Nineteenth Night

The Brahman’s wife who killed a peacock and ate its gallbladder on the physician’s advice, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Nineteenth 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: 10.7 x 10 cm (4 3/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.140.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

The gold square on the long black cord around the woman’s neck is an amulet.

Description

The Brahman’s wife stands over the body of the Raja’s dead peacock, which she killed in hopes of finding a cure for her infertility. The woman’s crime was nearly discovered, but she ultimately saved herself with a cunning lie. The physician, wearing orange and green, sits in the chamber on the left.
A vertically oriented gum tempera and ink painting depicts a man with a medium-light skin tone seated in an arched alcove on our left. He faces a woman with a medium-light skin tone standing on our right with arms extended toward him. A peacock stands between them on a pink tiled floor. Above and below, blocks of Persian script flank the scene, which features bright red, blue, and orange with gold accents.

The Brahman’s wife who killed a peacock and ate its gallbladder on the physician’s advice, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Nineteenth Night

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)

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