The invention of musical instruments from the intestines of a monkey, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourteenth Night
Unknown Artist
c. 1560
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
20.3 × 14 cm · painting only: 9.7 × 10.2 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Accession Number
1962.279.108.b
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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.