The son of the king of Babylon sees the Brahman transformed into a woman bathing and falls in love with her, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fifth 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: 14.5 x 10.2 cm (5 11/16 x 4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.234.a

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The prince becomes so lovesick that he nearly dies.

Description

One day the king’s son caught sight of a woman washing her hair and fell in love with her. She was actually a Brahmin, a Hindu priest, who had a magic pearl of transformation that allowed him to live in the women’s quarters with his lover, the princess. The princess gestures in alarm, as she realizes her brother has fallen for her lover. Another popular subject that we see in the Tuti-Nama and in later painting is women bathing in a pool. Women bathing also appear in Krishna sporting with the gopis, from the early Bhagavata Purana, CMA 1971.171. Note how the Mughal handling of water with gentle swirls differs from the concentric circles in Krishna sporting with the gopis.