Collection Online as of June 29, 2022

The Emir slays the snake after giving it shelter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-fifth Night

c. 1560

Part of a set. See all set records

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: 9.9 x 10.5 cm (3 7/8 x 4 1/8 in.)

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.287.b

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The previous folio, showing Khujasta addressing Tuti the parrot, is currently in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art-Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Description

In the upper register, the emir addresses the snake’s owner. The snake itself hides, barely visible beneath the edge of the emir’s orange robe. In the bottom scene, the emir dashes the snake on the ground having realized that the dangerous animal planned to kill him.

Provenance

Estate of Breckenridge Long, Bowie, MD, 1959; Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA; Bernard Brown, Milwaukee, WI;

Citations

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, 144

Exhibition history

Yoga: The Art of Transformation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 22-September 7, 2014).