Cleveland Museum of Art

The sentinel in the employ of the Shah of Tabaristan prepares to sacrifice his son to the ghost of the Shah’s soul, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Second Night

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: 137488

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

The loyal sentinel, in orange, holds a knife to his son’s throat, ready to sacrifice him to save the life of his dying king, the shah. The shah himself watches from behind the tree on the right. At the left, the female personification of the shah’s soul intervenes, saving both the shah and the sentinel’s son. The near sacrifice of the sentinel’s son parallels the Qur'an’s story of Abraham and Ishmael.

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Provenance & credit

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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

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