Artwork Page for The pious man’s son, now a king, reveals himself to his father; his nurse upbraids his unfaithful mother, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night

Details / Information for The pious man’s son, now a king, reveals himself to his father; his nurse upbraids his unfaithful mother, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night

The pious man’s son, now a king, reveals himself to his father; his nurse upbraids his unfaithful mother, 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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Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Measurements
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 8.7 x 10 cm (3 7/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.340.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

A corrosive pigment used on two of the vessels in the back wall has eaten through the paper.

Description

The young man throws himself at his overjoyed father’s feet. As a boy, he was nearly killed by his treacherous mother, who hoped to please her lover. The nurse, learning of her plan, took the child and fled to safety. In the intervening years, he killed a dragon, married a princess, and became a king. The king’s success is attributed to a magical, seven-colored bird’s head, which he ate as a child.
A vertically oriented gum tempera and ink painting depicts four people with light-medium skin tones above rows of script. On our left, a man in blue gestures toward a prostrate man in orange. On our right, a woman in green faces a woman in purple touching her cheek. They stand before a gold ground and red brick wall featuring a decorative bolster. Six lines of calligraphy fill the lower half of the composition.

The pious man’s son, now a king, reveals himself to his father; his nurse upbraids his unfaithful mother, 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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