Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Unknown Artist
c. 1560
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
20.3 × 14 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Accession Number
1962.279.96.a
About this artwork
The text of this manuscript is written in the Persian language using a clear form of the Arabic script called naskh. On this page the parrot is feigning concern that Khujasta's lover might not be as highborn as he claims to be. The prose is interrupted with lines of verse written in the gold-outlined boxes and introduced in blue with the word qat'e, meaning cut, as though the verse is cutting into the story.