The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 21, 2024
The sentinel in the employ of the Shah of Tabaristan prepares to sacrifice his son to the ghost of the Shah’s soul, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Second Night
c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
Painting only: 10.2 x 10.6 cm (4 x 4 3/16 in.); Overall: 20.1 x 14.3 cm (7 15/16 x 5 5/8 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.16.a
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The near sacrifice of the sentinel’s son parallels the Qur'an’s story of Abraham and Ishmael.Description
The loyal sentinel, in orange, holds a knife to his son’s throat, ready to sacrifice him to save the life of his dying king, the shah. The shah himself watches from behind the tree on the right. At the left, the female personification of the shah’s soul intervenes, saving both the shah and the sentinel’s son.- ?–1959Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD1959–1962?(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, OHProvenance Footnotes1 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.
- Nakhshabī, Z̤iyāʼ al-Dīn, and Muhammed Ahmed Simsar, translator and editor. Tales of a Parrot = The Cleveland Museum of Art's Ṭūṭīnāma. Cleveland, OH: The Museum, 1978. 20Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 309 www.jstor.org
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Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.16.a