Artwork

Landscape with a lotus pool, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot), Eighth Night

Landscape with a lotus pool, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot), Eighth Night is an unspecified painting by the Mughal Painting artist Gujarati. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. This small painting originates from a manuscript illustrating the Tuti-nama, a collection of tales told by a parrot.

About this work

This small painting was made in Gujarat but looks like work from Persia—dry ground, tufted grass, and swirling water lines.

A dark pool glows between pink hills, lotus pads floating on tarnished silver water. Two white birds wade at the edges, while trees with layered leaves arch above.

This small painting was made in Gujarat but looks like work from Persia—dry ground, tufted grass, and swirling water lines. The silver leaf that once shimmered is now black, showing how time changes art.

To see more paintings like this, look up mughal india, court of akbar (reigned 1556–1605).

Overview

This small painting originates from a manuscript illustrating the Tuti-nama, a collection of tales told by a parrot. Created in Gujarat during the late 16th century, it reflects a fusion of local Indian traditions and Persian artistic influences. The scene centers on a dark lotus pool, framed by dense foliage and a pale, textured ground, with birds standing at its margins. The original silver highlights in the water have oxidized to black, altering the visual tone over time.

Subject & Meaning

The painting depicts a tranquil moment beside a lotus pool, with two white birds wading at its edge. The lotus pads floating on the water suggest a serene, natural setting, possibly symbolizing purity or contemplation. The birds, rendered in delicate white, may serve as observers or messengers, common in narrative illustrated manuscripts. The scene’s stillness invites quiet reflection, aligning with the moral tales embedded in the Tuti-nama.

Technique & Style

The artist employs fine brushwork to layer tree canopies, creating depth through overlapping foliage. The ground is rendered in a dry, pinkish hue with scattered tufts of grass, a hallmark of Persian miniature conventions. Swirling lines in the water, once executed in silver leaf, now appear as dark streaks due to oxidation. The composition avoids perspective, favoring a flattened, decorative space typical of courtly manuscript painting in the region.

History & Provenance

Produced in Gujarat under the patronage of the Mughal court, this painting was part of a larger illustrated manuscript commissioned during Akbar’s reign. The Tuti-nama project brought together artists from diverse regions, including Gujarat, to synthesize styles. Over centuries, the work passed through private and royal collections before entering institutional holdings. Its current condition reflects natural material decay, particularly the tarnishing of metallic pigments.

Context

This work emerged during a period of intense cultural exchange between Persian and Indian artistic traditions at the Mughal court. Artists from Gujarat, though locally rooted, adopted Persian compositional elements such as the arid ground and stylized vegetation. The Tuti-nama series was one of several literary projects aimed at blending Persian storytelling with Indian visual culture, reflecting Akbar’s broader policy of syncretism and imperial patronage.

Legacy

The painting exemplifies the hybrid aesthetic that defined Mughal manuscript illustration in the late 1500s. Its fusion of regional techniques with Persian norms influenced later courtly art across northern India. The deterioration of silver leaf into blackened traces has become a subject of study in conservation, illustrating how material choices shape historical perception. It remains a key reference for understanding cross-regional artistic dialogue in early modern South Asia.