Artwork
The prince sent back to the place of execution for the sixth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The prince sent back to the place of execution for the sixth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth 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, titled *The prince sent back to the place of execution for the sixth time, from a Tuti‑nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night*, is a miniature painting that arranges four narrative vignettes within a single frame. Each vignette depicts figures in vivid, patterned garments against a richly colored backdrop of deep blues, reds and gold, all bounded by ornamental borders.
Subject & Meaning
The scenes illustrate a sequence from the Persian literary collection *Tuti‑nama*, portraying a prince repeatedly returned to an execution site. The figures—an orange‑clad kneeling man urged forward, a green‑dressed man with a spear, and a white‑robed spectator—suggest moments of tension and authority within the story’s moral or didactic context.
Technique & Style
Executed in the traditional Persian miniature manner, the painting employs fine brushwork for intricate costume patterns and delicate facial features. The palette relies on saturated pigments, while the decorative borders frame the narrative panels, reflecting the courtly aesthetic of Safavid‑era manuscript illustration.
History & Provenance
The piece is part of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, acquired through the museum’s ongoing efforts to represent Persian manuscript art. Its provenance prior to acquisition is not detailed in the available records, but it originates from a manuscript illustrating the *Tuti‑nama*.
Context
*Tuti‑nama* (The Parrot’s Tale) is a 14th‑century Persian work that uses animal and human stories to convey ethical lessons. Miniature illustrations like this one were commonly produced for elite patrons, serving both decorative and instructional purposes within illuminated books.
Artist & collection
The young prince recounts his experiences to his father, the king, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The handmaiden again pleads for the death of the prince, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The astrologer predicts a calamity for the newly born prince in his thirteenth year, but one which he would be able to overcome, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The rejuvenated old man and the daughter of the king of the jinns take leave of the King of Kings, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventh Night
Khalis repays the prince for his kindness by changing into a snake and sucking the poison from the king’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The young prince is crowned and the wicked handmaiden is executed, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The prince, once reprieved, is returned to the palace of execution a second time on the plea of the king’s handmaiden, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The prince, with the help of Mukhlis who changes into a frog, recovers the ring lost in the sea, and returns it to the king, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
The three suitors again begin to quarrel among themselves for the hand of the devotee’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twentieth Night
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
The merchant has the hateful skull ground and put into a box, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night
The marriage of ‘Ubaid, son of a merchant of Tirmiz, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-second Night
Khurshid reunited with her husband Utarid, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-second Night