The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

The false Mansur punished before the judge and expelled from the city, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventeenth Night

The false Mansur punished before the judge and expelled from the city, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventeenth Night

c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 11.7 x 10 cm (4 5/8 x 3 15/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.129.b
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The documents before the judge are marked with Arabic script, implying an Islamic context.

Description

When the true merchant Mansur returns home to find an imposter in his place, he takes him to a judge to settle the matter. After testimony of Mansur’s wife, the imposter is revealed. In the image, the real Mansur stands with his wife, addressing the seated judge. Below them, the imposter is led away, turban unraveled, while being beaten with a stick.
  • ?–1959
    Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD
    1959–1962?
    (Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA)
    1959?–1962
    (Bernard Brown Agency, Milwaukee, WI, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from Mrs. A. Dean [Helen Wade Greene] Perry)
    1962–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Samuel Miller Breckinridge Long (May 16, 1881–September 26, 1958) was an American diplomat and politician, who served in the administrations of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Long is largely remembered for his obstructionist role as the Assistant Secretary of State responsible for granting refugee visas during World War II. His interests included the collection of antiques, paintings and American ship models. He maintained a stable of Thoroughbred race horses and was a director of the Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland, and he enjoyed fox hunting, fishing, and sailing.
  • Chandra, Pramod, and Daniel J. Ehnbom. The Cleveland Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976. pp. 79, 118
    Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 315 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=The false Mansur punished before the judge and expelled from the city, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventeenth Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.129.b