Artwork
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The object is a single sheet from the illustrated manuscript known as *Tuti‑nama* (Tales of a Parrot).
About this work
Overview
The object is a single sheet from the illustrated manuscript known as *Tuti‑nama* (Tales of a Parrot). It consists of a paper leaf whose surface has yellowed with age, bordered by a thin red strip along its margins. The entire front is occupied by dense black calligraphy arranged in tight, orderly rows.
Subject & Meaning
The black script records a narrative segment from the *Tuti‑nama*, a collection of moral anecdotes traditionally used for instruction and entertainment at court. The presence of small red marks within the text suggests editorial interventions—perhaps corrections, emphasis, or marginal notes—indicating the page was intended for a discerning reader, possibly a royal patron.
Technique & Style
The characters were rendered with a fine brush, each stroke deliberate and uniformly shaped, reflecting the high standards of courtly penmanship. The red border and occasional red annotations were applied with pigment that contrasts sharply against the dark ink, a common visual cue in Persian manuscript practice to delineate sections or draw attention.
History & Provenance
The leaf is part of a larger manuscript now dispersed among several collections; comparable pages are held by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Its material qualities and decorative details align with Persian book production of the early modern period, and its provenance suggests it was created as a prestigious gift, likely for a member of the aristocracy.
Artist & collection
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page