The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

The young prince is presented to the king, his father, by his teacher, but refuses to speak, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

The young prince is presented to the king, his father, by his teacher, but refuses to speak, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 11.5 x 9.8 cm (4 1/2 x 3 7/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The four points of cloth at the bottom of the men’s tunics are for tying up when mounted on horseback.

Description

As the prince grew up, he was failing in his studies. After 12 years of frustration, the king found a teacher who used pictures and creative oral techniques to help him learn. When the day came for his examinations that would prove him fit to rule, both the prince and the teacher were confident that he was well prepared. Before going in for the examinations, the teacher read his horoscope and discovered that disaster would befall him that very week, unless he kept completely silent until the seven-day period of danger had passed. The painting on this page shows the prince in blue next to his teacher in yellow, kneeling before the king.
  • ?–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, 98
    Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 311 www.jstor.org
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); December 31, 2013 - June 30, 2014.
  • {{cite web|title=The young prince is presented to the king, his father, by his teacher, but refuses to speak, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.54.b