The wolf and the jackal, serving as viziers, instigate the lion who pursues the Brahman up a tree, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-first Night

c. 1560

The wolf and the jackal, serving as viziers, instigate the lion who pursues the Brahman up a tree, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-first Night, c. 1560. Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605). Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); painting only: 10.8 x 10.4 cm (4 1/4 x 4 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.152.a The Brahman perches precariously at the top of a tree as the hungry lion waits below surrounded by wolves and jackals. Previously, the lion’s other viziers, the deer and the gazelle, had counseled the lion to treat the Brahman with kindness. They appear again to save the Brahman life. The artist has depicted the gazelle and deer as a blackbuck and cow.