The Brahman’s predicament is conveyed by the wind to the fish who carries the news to the king of the Ocean, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eleventh Night (c. 1560): Art, History and Details

The Brahman’s predicament is conveyed by the wind to the fish who carries the news to the king of the Ocean, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eleventh Night (c. 1560) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A Brahman stands on a sandy beach prayerfully calling out for help to send a message to the king of the ocean. His own raja (sovereign) had sent him on pain of death to bring the king of the ocean to the Raja’s son’s wedding in three days. In the text, the wind brings the Brahman’s message to the ocean, and the fish, hearing it, take the news of the wedding invitation to their king. The swirling eddies and foamy shore suggest the presence of wind. Besides fish, a crocodile, sea snake, frog, and turtle also heed the message.

Object facts

• Title: The Brahman’s predicament is conveyed by the wind to the fish who carries the news to the king of the Ocean, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eleventh Night
• Date: c. 1560
• Culture: Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 8.3 x 10.2 cm (3 1/4 x 4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.89.a

A detail from the museum

On the Brahman's arm is written "Ram Ra[m]," indicating that he is a devotee of Rama, avatar of Vishnu.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry

Further reading listed by the museum

• Chandra, Pramod, and Daniel J. Ehnbom. The Cleveland Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976.
• Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.