The snake, hidden in a basket of flowers, reveals himself to the Raja who has just sent away his wife, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-third Night (c. 1560): Art, History and Details

The snake, hidden in a basket of flowers, reveals himself to the Raja who has just sent away his wife, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-third 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 black cobra appears beside the raja’s bed, intending to poison him in revenge for his earlier cruelty. The raja, who had mutilated the snake’s wife, reveals that he did so only after watching her seduce another snake. Upon realizing his wife’s treachery, the grateful cobra grants the raja the ability to talk to animals.

Object facts

• Title: The snake, hidden in a basket of flowers, reveals himself to the Raja who has just sent away his wife, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-third 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: 10.6 x 10.8 cm (4 3/16 x 4 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.278.b

A detail from the museum

The raja has sent his wife away after realizing the treachery of women.

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.