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The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
c. 1560
- Medium
- gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 7.9 x 10.2 cm (3 1/8 x 4 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
- Kids profiles and older: it shows nature, places, still life or a children's book. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
When like a red-turbaned king the sun disappeared under the canopy in the west and like a silver-robed monarch the moon appeared on the throne in the east, Khujasta went to ask Tuti’s permission to leave. The parrot replied that his mistress Khujasta should devote herself to her obligations of propriety, just like the three extraordinary companions of the prince. Her interest piqued, Khujasta asked Tuti to tell her about them. He then launched into a story about the benefits of loyalty and generosity that lasted all night.