Artwork
The parrot laughs on hearing the Raja of Ujjain’s wife admire her beauty in a mirror, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot: Forty-sixth Night
The parrot laughs on hearing the Raja of Ujjain’s wife admire her beauty in a mirror, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot: Forty-sixth 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. This painting illustrates a scene from the Tuti-nama, a collection of tales told by a parrot.
About this work
If you like this scene, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) to see more paintings from the same time.
You see a woman in a jeweled robe holding a mirror, while a green parrot perches beside her and seems to laugh.
The painting comes from a book of stories told by a parrot to delay a queen’s secret meeting. Here, the parrot mocks the queen’s vanity, setting off a wild quest. The colors are bright and flat, like a comic strip, so every detail pops.
If you like this scene, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) to see more paintings from the same time.
Overview
This painting illustrates a scene from the Tuti-nama, a collection of tales told by a parrot. It depicts a woman admiring her reflection, accompanied by a laughing parrot.
Subject & Meaning
The scene shows the wife of the Raja of Ujjain admiring her beauty, prompting the parrot to mock her vanity by describing a more beautiful woman, sparking the raja's quest to find her.
Technique & Style
The painting features bright, flat colors that emphasize its narrative details, similar to a comic strip. The style is characteristic of Mughal Indian art from the court of Akbar.
Context
The Tuti-nama is a book of stories told by a parrot to delay a queen's secret meeting. This painting is part of that narrative tradition.
Artist & collection
Domestic Scene
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The Nymph of Fontainebleau
Portrait of a Woman
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden
Venus and Minerva
Family Group of Four on Sofa
Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night
The parrot laughs on hearing the Raja of Ujjain’s wife admire her beauty in a mirror, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot: Forty-sixth Night
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-seventh Night, form a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-sixth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-eighth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-Fourth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-fourth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)