Artwork

The cat attacks the mice which disturb the lion, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifteenth Night

The cat attacks the mice which disturb the lion, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifteenth 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 miniature illustrates a cat leaping amid a horde of fleeing mice while a lion, seated on a throne, observes the chaos.

About this work

Overview

The miniature illustrates a cat leaping amid a horde of fleeing mice while a lion, seated on a throne, observes the chaos. The composition captures the moment when the young cat, acting as substitute guardian, exterminates the rodents, prompting the lion to dismiss his feline overseer. The scene is taken from a fifteenth‑night episode of a Tuti‑nama, a collection of parrot‑told fables.

Subject & Meaning

The narrative conveys a moral about overzealous duty. The father cat entrusts his son with protecting the lion’s sleep from mice; the son’s excessive violence eradicates the pests but also removes the lion’s need for a protector, leading to his dismissal. The cat’s lament—blaming himself for the lion’s loss of grief—underscores the unintended consequences of extreme actions.

Technique & Style

Figures are rendered with delicate detailing; the lion’s regal posture and the cat’s dynamic leap are emphasized through exaggerated gestures.

Executed in the Mughal miniature tradition, the work employs fine ink lines and vivid mineral pigments on paper. Figures are rendered with delicate detailing; the lion’s regal posture and the cat’s dynamic leap are emphasized through exaggerated gestures. The crowded space, intricate patterns on the throne, and the swift, scattered forms of the mice create a lively, densely populated tableau typical of courtly storytelling art.

History & Provenance

The painting originates from a fifteenth‑night illustration in a Tuti‑nama, a manuscript of parrot narratives compiled for the Mughal court. Such books were circulated among elite patrons in the early modern period, serving both entertainment and didactic purposes. The miniature has survived in a private collection before being acquired by a museum specializing in South Asian art.

Context

Mughal courtly manuscripts frequently blended animal allegories with ethical instruction, reflecting the empire’s synthesis of Persian literary forms and Indian visual aesthetics. The fable’s emphasis on hierarchical relationships—lion, cat, mouse—mirrors contemporary concerns about loyalty, service, and the limits of authority within the imperial bureaucracy.