
Cleveland Museum of Art
The deceitful wife returns to her terrace after caressing her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
ShravanaLinkedCulture matchlcp-7e0fe0ae4f29
- Date
- c. 1560
- Medium
- gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Culture
- Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
- Department
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 137942
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
In order to convince the king that he should not have the prince executed solely on the basis of the handmaiden's accusation, the king's seven viziers each tell a story about the actions of a deceitful woman. This painting depicts the opening scene of the story told by the fifth of seven viziers. An adulterous wife has surreptitiously climbed down from her room to caress a man on the street, whom she wants to take as a lover. In the margin of the painting on this page is an inscription written in Persian identifying the name of the artist Shravana. Bright gold is visible in areas where the paint has flaked away.
The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
- Provenance
- ?–1959: Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD | 1959–1962?: (Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA) | 1959?–1962: (Bernard Brown Agency, Milwaukee, WI, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from Mrs. A. Dean [Helen Wade Greene] Perry) | 1962–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Cleveland Museum of Art and other institutions.

The deceitful wife ejects the procuress after blackening her face, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137943

The deceitful wife persuades her husband to sleep in the same place where she had previously slept with her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137945

The deceitful wife assaults her erring husband, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137929

A woman asks her lover to leave her house, brandishing his sword and feigning rage in order to deceive her husband who has just arrived, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137922

The prince being taken away for execution on the false complaint of the handmaiden, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137919

The prince sent back to the place of execution for the sixth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137947

The farmer, father of the son with the deceitful wife, steals away with her anklet while she is in bed with her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137944

The handmaiden again pleads for the death of the prince, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137953

The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Eighth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137909

The prince, once reprieved, is returned to the palace of execution a second time on the plea of the king’s handmaiden, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137925

The merchant hears of his wife’s unfaithfulness (above); the unfaithful wife performs penance by plucking her hair (below), from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): First Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137361

The handmaiden appeals for justice and the prince is taken to the execution site for the fourth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Cleveland Museum of Art
#137935