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Tuti-Nama (Tales of a Parrot)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The Tuti-Nama , written in Persian in the early fourteenth century, contains a series of fifty-two moralizing tales told by a clever, talking parrot. Each story is intended to instruct Khujasta and distract her from an adulterous affair. The Cleveland Museum of Art’s copy of the manuscript was painted for Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605) and represents the origins of Mughal painting.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineTuti-Nama (Tales of a Parrot), c. 1560. Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605). Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry, 1962.279
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Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
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