The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

The gardener seizes and beats a donkey who insisted on braying, while the deer, its companion flees to safety, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-first 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: 11.7 x 10.2 cm (4 5/8 x 4 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.267.a
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The male spotted deer with delicate white antlers is known as a chital and is native to India.

Description

On the right, the furious gardener raises his staff to strike the ensnared donkey, who struggles to escape his bonds. The deer had previously tried to warn the donkey that his loud and abrasive singing would be his downfall. However, the stubborn donkey could not resist the temptation to bray.
  • ?–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, 141
  • {{cite web|title=The gardener seizes and beats a donkey who insisted on braying, while the deer, its companion flees to safety, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-first Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.267.a