2-736-663 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): Fourth night: The soldier receives a garland of roses from his wife which will remain fresh as long as she is faithful, c. 1560. Possibly the earliest surviving manuscript from the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar, many of the illustrations were painted by Indian artists accustomed to working in a horizontal format derived from the use of palm leaves. They also chose to depict scenes without spatial depth, making use of patterns on blocks of colour and angular gestures, all characteristic of indigenous, pre-Mughal painting styles.