The king places the talisman on his sleeping wife, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fiftieth Night
Unknown Artist
c. 1560
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
20.3 × 14 cm · painting only: 11 × 10.8 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Accession Number
1962.279.323.a
About this artwork
The king, believing that his wife has carried on an affair with a slave, acquires a talisman that will make her tell the truth. She reveals that the young man is not her lover, but her son from a former marriage. In reality, the talisman is not magic but is instead part of a plan to prove the wife’s innocence.