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
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.