The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Two near identical black-and-white square photographs with upper corners rounded of Tamil Gateway from a side angle, the second photograph on the right slightly darker. From behind layers of short, light-colored buildings with thatched canopies extends the towering, ornate gate twice their height outlined against a clear sky. The gateway is carved with dense layers of columns, figures, and squared off corners that narrow slightly towards the top of the gateway's rectangular column.

Tamil Gateway (Gopura), Tamil Nadu

c. 1860

Unknown, 19th century

stereoscopic albumen print from glass plate negative
Image: 7 x 13.8 cm (2 3/4 x 5 7/16 in.); Mounted: 8.3 x 17.3 cm (3 1/4 x 6 13/16 in.)
Gift of Daniella Dangoor 2019.71
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Stereographs were introduced to the public in London in 1851 and became wildly popular from the 1860s to around 1930.

Description

A stereograph, when seen through a viewer, produces the illusion of a three-dimensional scene and creates a “you-are-there” sensation. This stereo view documents a Hindu temple in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The high gopura or gatehouse leading into the temple precinct is characteristic of medieval temples constructed in that region. Popular beginning with their introduction to the public in London in 1851, stereographs inspired a sense of awe that would have compounded a viewer’s impression of India’s architectural wonders.
  • ?–2019
    Daniella Dangoor, London, England, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    March 4, 2019–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Temples and Worship in South Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14, 2024-March 9, 2025).
  • {{cite web|title=Tamil Gateway (Gopura), Tamil Nadu|url=false|author=|year=c. 1860|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.71