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 page from the Persian manuscript known as *Tuti‑nama* (Tales of a Parrot).
About this work
Overview
The object is a single page from the Persian manuscript known as *Tuti‑nama* (Tales of a Parrot). It consists of a light brown paper support on which a dense block of black Arabic calligraphy is set in neat, horizontal lines. A thin dark‑brown border frames the page, and a few words are emphasized with blue ink.
Subject & Meaning
The text appears to be narrative prose, likely a portion of the moralistic or didactic stories for which the *Tuti‑nama* is famed. The selective use of blue highlights suggests an intention to draw attention to titles, proper names, or key thematic terms within the story.
Technique & Style
The calligrapher employed a regular, cursive Arabic script, characteristic of Persian manuscript production in the early modern period. The ink is predominantly carbon black, with a limited application of lapis‑derived blue pigment for emphasis. The page’s border is a simple, narrow line that frames the text without decorative motifs.
History & Provenance
The page is part of a larger codex that originated in the Persian cultural sphere, where the *Tuti‑nama* was widely copied from the 16th to 19th centuries. The manuscript entered the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is catalogued among other Persian book‑pages for study and exhibition.
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