The painting made by the vizier of the emperor of China for the queen of Rum, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-ninth Night (c. 1560): Art, History and Details

The painting made by the vizier of the emperor of China for the queen of Rum, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-ninth 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:

Rather than depicting a scene from the story, this page reproduces the painting done by the vizier. The image shows the emperor of China watching from his palace as a stag and his young are swept away in a flood. Beside the rushing water, a doe runs from danger. After seeing this image, the queen agrees to marry the emperor.

Object facts

• Title: The painting made by the vizier of the emperor of China for the queen of Rum, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-ninth 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: 14.1 x 10.1 cm (5 9/16 x 4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.256.b

A detail from the museum

The stag is depicted as a black antelope, which was a symbol for sacrifice in ancient India.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry

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.