The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

The Raja’s son vows to sever his head and offer it to the image if he is united with the princess he has seen in the temple, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fourth Night

The Raja’s son vows to sever his head and offer it to the image if he is united with the princess he has seen in the temple, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fourth Night

c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 12.5 x 10 cm (4 15/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

In this painting, intended for a Muslim patron, the sculpture of a Hindu deity lacks a face and hands.

Description

The raja’s son, wearing orange, stands with his hands raised in supplication before an enshrined golden image. When he entered the temple for worship, he encountered a princess and instantly became deeply enamored by her beauty. Upon arriving home, his father ensured that the two would be married, although the promised self-sacrifice remained unfulfilled.
  • ?–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, 136
    Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 318 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=The Raja’s son vows to sever his head and offer it to the image if he is united with the princess he has seen in the temple, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fourth Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.227.a