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The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night
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About this work
The treacherous man knows that whoever eats the bird’s head will become a king; however, the woman’s son has already eaten it. Enraged, he demands that she cut off her son’s head and cook it for him. Maddened by love, the woman agrees. The son’s nurse learns of the woman’s terrible plan and flees with him to safety.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineThe pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second 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: 10.1 x 10 cm (4 x 3 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry, 1962.279.335.b
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