The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Perumal Temple Vimana from Corner of Court, Madurai

Perumal Temple Vimana from Corner of Court, Madurai

1858
(British, 1822–1902)
England, 19th century
albumen print from a waxed paper negative
Image: 34.2 x 26.8 cm (13 7/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Paper: 34.2 x 26.8 cm (13 7/16 x 10 9/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2020.209
Catalogue raisonné: Dewan: CR6-143
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The architecture was probably painted with bright colors, but Linnaeus Tripe’s photographic technology captured only a monochromatic range of tones.

Description

Although the temple would have been crowded with worshippers, Tripe shows us empty spaces. His paper negatives and primitive lens required long exposures, even in the bright sunlight of India—too long to record an individual in motion. Tripe, photographing for the colonial government, may also have used his official status to have the temple cleared of visitors so he could obtain unobstructed views of the architecture.
  • Newberry Library Collection, Chicago, IL
    October 31, 1989
    (Sotheby's, New York, NY)
    2020
    (Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, United Kingdom)
    September 14, 2020
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Dewan, Janet, and Linnaeus Tripe. The Photographs of Linnaeus Tripe: A Catalogue Raisonné. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2003. CR6-143
  • {{cite web|title=Perumal Temple Vimana from Corner of Court, Madurai|url=false|author=Captain Linnaeus Tripe|year=1858|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.209