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The origin of music from a fabulous bird of India which had seven holes in its beak, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourteenth Night
c. 1560
- Medium
- gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Overall: 20.2 x 14 cm (7 15/16 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 10 x 10 cm (3 15/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
- Culture
- Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This story tells of a fantastical bird called a qaqnos who emitted sonorous tones from its beak when joyful. From these sounds, the science of music was developed. In the image, a man holding a book in one hand and an instrument called a vina in the other crouches beneath a tasseled canopy. His weapons, a quiver, sword, and shield hang in the tree nearby.
