The merchant’s daughter gives birth to a son as a result of eating out of the box. The clever child recognizes the false gems from true, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night
Unknown Artist
c. 1560
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
20.3 × 14 cm · painting only: 7.8 × 10.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Accession Number
1962.279.161.b
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
On the left, a group of merchants argue with a young boy over the veracity of their goods. The boy is a child of fate, miraculously born to a virgin after she ate the remains of a mysterious skull. The box containing the skull sits on the carpet between the virgin and her mother.