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 illustrated page from the Mughal manuscript known as the Tales of a Parrot (Tuti‑nama).
About this work
Overview
The object is a single illustrated page from the Mughal manuscript known as the Tales of a Parrot (Tuti‑nama). Executed as a painted sheet of paper, it features dense black calligraphy arranged in orderly columns, framed by a faint red‑blue decorative border that shows signs of age and wear.
Subject & Meaning
The page contains narrative text from the moralistic collection of stories that the Tuti‑nama presents, a work intended to convey ethical lessons through animal fables. Its purpose was educational as well as ornamental, reflecting the courtly interest in didactic literature.
Technique & Style
Calligraphic script is rendered in fine black ink, each character carefully formed to emphasize the manuscript’s prestige. The paper, slightly discoloured and textured, bears marginal boxes that hold supplemental annotations, a common feature in Mughal book production for clarifying or expanding the main text.
History & Provenance
Commissioned for Prince Salim, the future Mughal emperor Jahangir (r. 1605‑1627), the page illustrates the patronage of literary arts within the imperial household. It later entered the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is displayed alongside other pages from the same codex.
Context
During Jahangir’s early years, the production of richly illustrated manuscripts was a means of asserting cultural refinement and political legitimacy. The Tuti‑nama, with its blend of Persian literary tradition and Indian artistic sensibility, exemplifies this synthesis.
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
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page