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The old man eats of the fruit of the Tree of Life, but drops dead, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Ninth Night
Lalu (Indian, active mid-1500s)
c. 1560
- Medium
- gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Painting only: 11.4 x 10.2 cm (4 1/2 x 4 in.); Overall: 20.1 x 14.3 cm (7 15/16 x 5 5/8 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
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
The enthroned king stares in amazement at the body of the old man. The parrot, who brought the king the fruit, sits in a cage at the center of the room. Believing the parrot to be a traitor, the king orders his execution. However, unbeknownst to the king, the fruit was actually poisoned by the bite of a venomous snake.
