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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

Unknown Artist

c. 1560

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 by Unknown Artist

Medium

gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Dimensions

20.3 × 14 cm · painting only: 10.1 × 10 cm

Classification

Painting

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Museum

Cleveland Museum of Art

Credit

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry

Accession Number

1962.279.335.b

About this artwork

The treacherous man knows that whoever eats the bird’s head will become a king; however, the woman’s son has already eaten it. Enraged, he demands that she cut off her son’s head and cook it for him. Maddened by love, the woman agrees. The son’s nurse learns of the woman’s terrible plan and flees with him to safety.

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