Artwork
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
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 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 narrative episode from the *Tuti‑nama* (Tales of a Parrot), specifically the twentieth night in which three suitors dispute the hand of a devotee’s daughter. The composition is divided between an exterior courtyard, where the men argue, and an interior space where the woman sits on a raised platform, observing the confrontation.
Subject & Meaning
The three male figures, each dressed in vivid, contrasting hues, represent rival claimants to the daughter’s marriage. Their gestures—one brandishing a spear, another grasping an arm, and a third standing aloof—convey tension and competition. The seated woman, adorned in bright red and gold and holding a fan, embodies the object of desire and perhaps the moral focal point of the tale.
Technique & Style
Executed in a flat, decorative manner, the painting employs bold, saturated colors and simplified geometric forms. The interior walls feature swirling ornamental patterns that echo Persian miniature traditions, while the figures are rendered with minimal modeling, emphasizing narrative clarity over naturalistic detail.
History & Provenance
The piece is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection, acquired as a representative example of Persian narrative painting linked to the *Tuti‑nama* manuscript tradition. Its provenance traces back to the manuscript’s illustration program, though specific ownership prior to museum acquisition is not documented in the provided information.
Context
The *Tuti‑nama* is a 14th‑century Persian literary work that combines moral instruction with romantic adventure, often illustrated in miniature form. This painting reflects the broader cultural practice of visualizing episodic storytelling, where each night’s episode is rendered as a distinct scene, integrating text and image for didactic purposes.
Artist & collection
The third suitor strikes the devotee’s daughter and thus restores her to life, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twentieth Night
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The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-fifth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The handmaiden again pleads for the death of the prince, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-third night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The prince sent back to the place of execution for the sixth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The king of Bahilistan offers his daughter to the King of Kings, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventh Night
The merchant has the hateful skull ground and put into a box, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night