The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

The handmaiden appeals for justice and the prince is taken to the execution site for the fourth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

The handmaiden appeals for justice and the prince is taken to the execution site for the fourth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

c. 1560
(Indian, active 1550s-1590s)
Painting only: 16.6 x 10 cm (6 9/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Overall: 20 x 14.4 cm (7 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Two painters named Tara are known from the Akbar period.

Description

Above, the enthroned king hears the appeal of the distressed handmaiden. Below, the bound and kneeling prince awaits his execution. Although the prince has been falsely accused of assaulting the handmaiden, he has taken a temporary vow of silence and is unable to defend himself. A vizier will stall the execution with a story about the dangers of women.
  • ?–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. 103
    Chandra, Pramod, and Daniel J. Ehnbom. The Cleveland Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976. pp. 78, 103
    Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 311 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=The handmaiden appeals for justice and the prince is taken to the execution site for the fourth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night|url=false|author=Tara 2|year=c. 1560|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.63.b