The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

The destitute Mukhtar meets his wife Maimuna at a holy shrine, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fifth Night

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 13.2 x 10.1 cm (5 3/16 x 4 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.175.b
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A woman places a garland on a cenotaph, probably marking the grave of a Sufi holy man.

Description

In the center of the image, a surprised Mukhtar, dressed in rags, confronts his wife. A few days prior, he had attempted to kill her in order to steal all of her possessions. Now destitute, Mukhtar begs for his wife’s forgiveness, which she grants.
  • ?–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.
  • Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 316 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=The destitute Mukhtar meets his wife Maimuna at a holy shrine, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fifth Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.175.b