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The invention of musical instruments from the intestines of a monkey, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourteenth Night
c. 1560
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
A monkey has been disemboweled while jumping from tree to tree. Once the intestine dried, a wise man attached it to a stick and a gourd, creating the first instrument. Instruments developed from this, called the rebab and the vina, are held by the musicians who sit beneath the trees.
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Details
- Title: The invention of musical instruments from the intestines of a monkey, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourteenth Night
- Date Created: c. 1560
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 9.7 x 10.2 cm (3 13/16 x 4 in.)
- Provenance: Estate of Breckenridge Long, Bowie, MD, 1959; Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA; Bernard Brown, Milwaukee, WI;
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.108.b
- Medium: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Fun Fact: The rebab-player sits on the left, while the vina-player is on the right.
- 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: 1962.279.108.b
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