Artwork
The two cooks, who attempt to seduce the warrior’s loyal wife, are trapped by her in a cellar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourth Night
The two cooks, who attempt to seduce the warrior’s loyal wife, are trapped by her in a cellar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourth Night is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
The work illustrates a moment from the fourth night of the Persian narrative collection Tuti‑nama, in which a faithful wife confronts two cooks who have tried to seduce her. She stands atop a brick ledge, looking down into a dim cellar where the cooks are caught, their bodies twisted in attempts to escape or surrender.
Subject & Meaning
The composition captures the clash between the wife's resolve and the cooks' desperation. Their brightly coloured garments—one in yellow, another in red—contrast with the shadowed interior, emphasizing the moral tension of loyalty versus betrayal within the tale.
Technique & Style
The artist employs a strong chiaroscuro scheme, allowing the light from above to illuminate the wife's figure and the intricate patterns of her dress and jewelry, while the cellar recedes into deep shadow. Fine detailing in textiles and the brickwork demonstrates a meticulous approach to texture and surface.
History & Provenance
Created as an illustration for the Tuti‑nama, the painting belongs to a tradition of manuscript miniatures that visualized literary episodes for elite patrons. Its exact date and original patron remain uncertain, but it reflects the Persian courtly aesthetic of the late medieval period.
Context
The scene is part of a larger narrative cycle in which the warrior’s wife repeatedly outwits those who threaten her household. Such episodes were popular in Persian storytelling, serving both entertainment and moral instruction about fidelity and cunning.
Artist & collection
The deceitful wife ejects the procuress after blackening her face, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The farmer, father of the son with the deceitful wife, steals away with her anklet while she is in bed with her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The deceitful wife persuades her husband to sleep in the same place where she had previously slept with her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The deceitful wife assaults her erring husband, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
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The deceitful wife returns to her terrace after caressing her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth 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
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The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
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Khujasta kills the pet mynah who advises her not to be unfaithful to Maymun, her husband, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of the Parrot): First Night
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-eighth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Eighth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)