The third suitor, who is an archer, shoots the wicked fairy who has imprisoned Zuhra. He rides on a magic horse prepared by the second suitor and is led to the spot by the divining prowess of the firs

The third suitor, who is an archer, shoots the wicked fairy who has imprisoned Zuhra. He rides on a magic horse prepared by the second suitor and is led to the spot by the divining prowess of the first, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fourth 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:

In the upper-right corner, Zuhra is imprisoned high atop a rocky outcrop. The evil fairy that captured her falls dead from the side of the mountain with an arrow in her chest. Zuhra’s three suitors have combined their unique talents in order to save her, yet it is ultimately the third who proves himself most worthy of her love.

Object facts

• Title: The third suitor, who is an archer, shoots the wicked fairy who has imprisoned Zuhra. He rides on a magic horse prepared by the second suitor and is led to the spot by the divining prowess of the first, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-fourth 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: 13.8 x 10 cm (5 7/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.226.a

A detail from the museum

The fairy is called a “peri” in Persian.

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.