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Seven men disputing possession of a woman bring her before the Tree of Justice into which she is absorbed, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Sixth Night

c. 1560

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

Talking trees that predict the future or administer justice recur in medieval Indo-Iranian literature. Here, the blossoming Tree of Justice settled a dispute. Seven different men wanted to marry a woman who had been carved as a wooden statue by the carpenter (lower right in red) and brought to life by the holy man (lower left in green). A sliver of the woman’s body is seen merging with the trunk. The Tree of Justice decided to absorb her, and as she disappeared the tree proclaimed: “Everything must revert to its own origin.”

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  • Title: Seven men disputing possession of a woman bring her before the Tree of Justice into which she is absorbed, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Sixth Night
  • Date Created: c. 1560
  • Physical Dimensions: Painting only: 10.4 x 9.8 cm (4 1/8 x 3 7/8 in.); Overall: 20 x 14.3 cm (7 7/8 x 5 5/8 in.)
  • Provenance: Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD, (Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA), (Bernard Brown Agency, Milwaukee, WI, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from Mrs. A. Dean [Helen Wade Greene] Perry), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.42.a
  • Medium: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
  • Fun Fact: A few tools, such as a hammer and an axe, designate the men’s professions.
  • Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
  • Culture: Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
  • Collection: Indian Art
  • Accession Number: 1962.279.42.a
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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