CC0 · no rights reserved
Bashir confides his love for Habbaza to an Arab friend, and sends him to her with a message, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fourth Night
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
In the upper register, Bahir, dressed in orange, conveys a message to his friend for his lover Habbaza. Habbaza herself, who is married to another man, waits for the message in her tent. Other villagers appear throughout the painting, some gesturing in surprise, signaling how news of the clandestine affair spread among the people of Habbaza’s tribe.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBashir confides his love for Habbaza to an Arab friend, and sends him to her with a message, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fourth Night, 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.); painting only: 16 x 10.1 cm (6 5/16 x 4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry, 1962.279.167.b
Similar works
Habbaza’s sister, who is sent to console her, discovers the disguised Arab in her place, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fourth Night
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
An Episode from the Story of the Sasanian King Khusrau and His Beloved Shirin, from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami (1141–1209) (verso)
The three young men present themselves as suitors for the hand of Zuhra, the daughter of the merchant of Kabul, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fourth Night
Kaiwan, Latif, and Sharif arrive at a house of worship, where they seek help from Khurshid who has become a mystical healer, from a Tuti-Nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-second Night
The disguised Arab, substituting for Habbaza, is whipped by her husband for refusing a bowl of milk, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fourth Night