Artwork

In order to falsely implicate her husband, Hamnaz places a knife by his side and lets the blood dripping from her nose stain his clothes, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fifth Night

In order to falsely implicate her husband, Hamnaz places a knife by his side and lets the blood dripping from her nose stain his clothes, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fifth Night is an unspecified painting by the Mughal Painting artist Unknown. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The painting illustrates a dramatic episode from the 16th‑century Indian collection of tales known as the *Tuti‑nama* (Tales of a Parrot).

About this work

You see a woman in a red dress bending over a sleeping man, blood dripping from her nose onto his clothes.

You see a woman in a red dress bending over a sleeping man, blood dripping from her nose onto his clothes.

This painting tells a wild story from a 16th-century Indian book called the *Tuti-nama*. The woman, Hamnaz, was caught in an affair—her lover bit off her nose as he died. Now she’s trying to frame her husband for the injury. The truth comes out when they find her nose in the dead man’s mouth.

To see more stories like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).

Overview

The painting illustrates a dramatic episode from the 16th‑century Indian collection of tales known as the *Tuti‑nama* (Tales of a Parrot). In the scene, a woman in a vivid red garment leans over a sleeping man, a stream of blood flowing from her nose onto his clothing, suggesting a violent and deceptive act.

Subject & Meaning

The figure, identified as Hamnaz, has had her nose severed by a dying lover during an illicit affair. She deliberately places the blood‑stained knife near her husband, hoping to implicate him in the injury and conceal her infidelity. The narrative resolves when the missing nose is discovered in the dead lover’s mouth, exonerating the husband.

Technique & Style

Rendered in a Mughal court aesthetic, the work combines precise linear drawing with rich, saturated pigments, especially the striking red of the woman's dress. The composition focuses on the intimate foreground, using chiaroscuro to highlight the blood and the tension between the two figures.

Context

The episode belongs to the *Tuti‑nama*, a compilation of moral and entertaining stories circulated in Akbar’s empire (1556‑1605). Such illustrations served both as visual entertainment and as didactic examples of the consequences of deceit within the sophisticated court culture of Mughal India.