# The deceitful wife returns to her terrace after caressing her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

- By: Shravana (Indian, active 1550s–c.1600)
- Date: 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 cm (3 1/2 x 3 15/16 in.)
- Culture: Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
- Credit line: Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.67.a)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.279.67.a/1962.279.67.a_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Kids profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In order to convince the king that he should not have the prince executed solely on the basis of the handmaiden's accusation, the king's seven viziers each tell a story about the actions of a deceitful woman. This painting depicts the opening scene of the story told by the fifth of seven viziers. An adulterous wife has surreptitiously climbed down from her room to caress a man on the street, whom she wants to take as a lover. In the margin of the painting on this page is an inscription written in Persian identifying the name of the artist Shravana.