The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 29, 2026

A vertically oriented tempera painting features panels of black script framing a central scene. A woman with light skin in a red sari stands facing two men seated on a patterned blue rug beneath a green canopy. All are shown in profile with light skin tones. They are depicted within a courtyard with red railings, patterned walls, and three vessels on the floor.

The eldest brother explains the reason for his youthful appearance, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-ninth 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: 9.9 x 10 cm (3 7/8 x 3 15/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.315.a
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Strings of pearls are braided into the woman’s hair.

Description

A king’s official sits conversing with the oldest of three brothers. Despite his advanced age, the man appears younger than all of his siblings. When asked, he explains that he has not aged because his life is free of anxiety: his farm yields abundant crops, and his wife is obedient and happy.
  • ?–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. p. 79, 147
  • {{cite web|title=The eldest brother explains the reason for his youthful appearance, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-ninth Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=29 October 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.315.a