The lover of Hamnaz, who has been hanged from the gallows, bites off her nose when she kisses him, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fifth Night c. 1560 Part of a set. See all set records India, Mughal, Reign of Akbar, 16th century Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 13.5 x 10.1 cm (5 5/16 x 4 in.) Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.177.a DID YOU KNOW? The gallows originally had four legs, discernible under infrared light. DESCRIPTION Hamnaz stands on a stool embracing her lover as he hangs. He has been put to death as punishment for being caught in their affair. Disfiguring her face serves as his final act of vengeance. PROVENANCE Estate of Breckenridge Long, Bowie, MD, 1959; Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA; Bernard Brown, Milwaukee, WI; CITATIONS Nakhshabī, Z̤iyāʼ al-Dīn, and Muhammed Ahmed Simsar. Tales of a Parrot = The Cleveland Museum of Art's Ṭūṭīnāma. Cleveland: The Museum, 1978. Trans. pp. 163-168 Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 317 www.jstor.org