A woman asks her lover to leave her house, brandishing his sword and feigning rage in order to deceive her husband who has just arrived, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night, by Gujarati, c. 1560
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A woman asks her lover to leave her house, brandishing his sword and feigning rage in order to deceive her husband who has just arrived, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

Gujarati (Indian, active 1550s-1590s)

c. 1560

Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
Overall: 20 x 14.3 cm (7 7/8 x 5 5/8 in.); Painting only: 16.7 x 10 cm (6 9/16 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

A shrewd woman is carrying on an affair with a painter. When her husband suddenly returns home, she quickly concocts a plan to prevent them both from being caught. Hidden beneath the table is the painter’s young apprentice who, unbeknownst to the painter, was also seduced by the woman.