2-736-580 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): Eighth night: The deceitful wife returns to her terrace after caressing her lover, 1558-1560. 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.