2-736-596 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): Eighth night: The young prince is crowned and the wicked handmaiden is executed, 1558-1560. In the concluding illustration to the tale of the parrot on the eighth night, the prince is enthroned at the top of the composition. In the lower right corner, his father, the former king, walks to the forest to live out his life in retirement, as was customary, while blood flows from the handmaiden's headless neck. The ends of garments visible below the picture plane reveal that there was another earlier composition that was painted over—a common practice throughout the Tales of a Parrot in which new recruits to the atelier were experimenting with a new style.