The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the fortieth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot), c. 1560
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The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the fortieth 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: 8.9 x 10.1 cm (3 1/2 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

As Khujasta prepares to leave to spend the night with her lover, she is stopped by Tuti the parrot. Tuti begins to tell her the story of a merchant’s wife, named Shahr-Arai, who tricked her husband in order to carry out an affair. The story is set in Nishapur, a city in northeast Iran.