Artwork Page for The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night

Details / Information for The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night

The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)
View all records in artwork set
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Measurements
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 10.1 x 10 cm (4 x 3 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.335.b
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

The cooked body of the seven-colored bird lies thrown on the tiled floor.

Description

The treacherous man knows that whoever eats the bird’s head will become a king; however, the woman’s son has already eaten it. Enraged, he demands that she cut off her son’s head and cook it for him. Maddened by love, the woman agrees. The son’s nurse learns of the woman’s terrible plan and flees with him to safety.
A book page features Persian script above and below a painting. On our left, a woman with medium skin tone in a green top and purple skirt kneels with one hand raised. To our right, a man with light skin tone in orange robes sits inside a small building. They occupy a platform set against a patterned wall of blue hexagons. Gold highlights detail the figures and architectural borders within a rectangular frame.

The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night

c. 1560

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

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