The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)c. 1560 · Study 1962.279.112.a

Context from the museum

Panels of bold color are closely reminiscent of local Indian painting traditions, as seen in the page to the left. The artist here is experimenting with depicting three-dimensionality in the angled rendering of the bed, the placement of Khujasta’s feet on the plane of the floor, and the parrot who stands in the space of his cage. In comparison to the figures in The Sage Narada tells King Kamsa of Vishnu’s Impending Incarnation to the left, Khujasta’s gesture is less pertly angular, and her face has smaller features and gentler contours. Falsely encouraging her to go meet her lover, the parrot tells her that if she doesn’t go, and her husband returns, she would regret not having gone to see him just as the cat repented having killed the mice. She must then hear the story of why a cat would regret killing mice.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

The stacked red jugs on the left are water pots.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting only measurement for The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot) is 10 cm wide and 7.6 cm high, equivalent to approximately 3.9 × 3.0 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 1.32:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.01 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 3.3% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 145.0 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot) in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this horizontal composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 10 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?