The farmer, father of the son with the deceitful wife, steals away with her anklet while she is in bed with her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Unknown Artist
c. 1560
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
20.3 × 14 cm · painting only: 10.4 × 10.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Accession Number
1962.279.68.a
About this artwork
The unfaithful wife and her lover were discovered by her father-in-law in their rendezvous place. Thinking she was asleep, he took her anklet as evidence of her infidelity, planning to confront her with it later. The lovers, still in bed, were awakened and witnessed him leaving by the gate, holding her anklet. Under the bed are a pitcher and basin for water, a dish of breath-freshening and mildly narcotic pan leaves, along with bottles of perfumes, all the accoutrements for a romantic encounter.