Artwork

The four destitute friends go to a wise man who gives each one of them a magic shell to be placed on top of the turban, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-seventh Night

The four destitute friends go to a wise man who gives each one of them a magic shell to be placed on top of the turban, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-seventh 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 scene from the Tuti‑nama, a collection of parrot‑told tales.

About this work

This painting comes from a book of stories told by a parrot to keep a queen from leaving her palace at night.

Four men in tattered clothes kneel before a wise man under a tree. The wise man hands each a small red shell. A servant waits behind him.

This painting comes from a book of stories told by a parrot to keep a queen from leaving her palace at night. The shells are magic—where they fall, treasure waits. The artist shows every wrinkle in the men’s robes and every leaf on the tree, even though the scene is tiny.

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

Overview

The painting illustrates a scene from the Tuti‑nama, a collection of parrot‑told tales. A seated sage beneath a tree distributes small red shells to four impoverished men kneeling before him, while a servant stands nearby. The narrative promises that wherever a shell lands, a hidden sustenance will be uncovered.

Subject & Meaning

The work visualises a moral episode in which the wise figure offers each destitute companion a magical shell, instructing them to wander until the shells fall. The story suggests that perseverance and faith will lead to material reward, reflecting themes of charity, destiny, and the hidden value in humble journeys.

Technique & Style

Rendered in the meticulous Mughal miniature tradition, the artist attends to minute detail: the texture of the men's ragged garments, the individual veins of each leaf, and the delicate folds of the sage’s turban. The composition employs a compact scale yet achieves a rich visual density through fine brushwork and precise coloration.

Context

The scene belongs to the courtly culture of Akbar’s Mughal empire (1556–1605), where illustrated manuscripts served both entertainment and moral instruction. The Tuti‑nama itself functioned as a night‑time diversion for a queen, embedding ethical lessons within fantastical narratives.

Legacy

As an example of Mughal narrative painting, the work demonstrates the period’s synthesis of Persian artistic conventions with Indian storytelling. Its attention to realism within a miniature format influences later South Asian manuscript illustration and offers insight into the visual strategies used to convey literary allegories.