2-737-043 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): Twenty-second night: The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the twenty-second night, c. 1560. On the 22nd night after her husband’s departure, the parrot advises his mistress Kujastha that when she meets her lover that night she should use her best judgment and manners and not allow herself to be laughed at like the wife of the amir, a local ruler. When Khujasta asked about what happened to her, the parrot related a story about the amir, his jester, and their unfaithful wives. This artist continued to use flat planes of colours and patterns characteristic of Indian painting before the Mughals. Experimentation with techniques to indicate depth and spatial recession--a new trend early in the reign of Akbar--can be seen in the tilted planes of the birdcage and the shading at the edges of the doorways.