Artwork Page for The snake enters into an argument with the frog, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-sixth Night

Details / Information for The snake enters into an argument with the frog, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-sixth Night

The snake enters into an argument with the frog, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-sixth 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: 9.5 x 10.2 cm (3 3/4 x 4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.183.b
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

The story takes place in China.

Description

Cave compositions were replicated for multiple types of scenes in India, based on Persian models like the Shah-nama painting CMA 1988.96.a. The black background of the caves in the Tuti-nama provides the viewer a window into a subterranean space, the mouth of which is shown amid the rocks above.

Shapur, the exiled frog tyrant, asked a snake to devour his enemies. However, when the snake became hungry again, he ate Shapur’s friends and family. Without any subjects to rule, the frog escaped his dangerous ally and lived out his life, sad and alone.
A book page features Persian script in the upper third and a painting below depicting a cave within pale purple-pink, orange, and blue-green rocks, a tree sprouting in the upper left. Against the stark black of the cave winds a brown spotted snake on our left and a green spotted frog with orange eyes on our right. A smaller spot of black above shows the entrance to the cave.

The snake enters into an argument with the frog, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-sixth Night

c. 1560

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

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