Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000382Western Gateway (Gopuram) of the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai
Also known as: The great pagoda, west gopurum
About the Artwork
This photograph features part of the same temple complex seen in the panoramic collage by Masumi Hayashi CMA 2015.95. Initially established during the 1100s, it was expanded on multiple occasions over the next 500 years. The addition of a series of enclosure walls included gateways topped by towering superstructures ornamented with miniature temples and images of deities. The monochrome monumentality of Tripe’s early photographic image, purposefully devoid of human activity, gives the impression of a timeless wonder. He would have had to clear the scene of worshipers and onlookers to achieve the pristine effect.
Provenance
1981: London Art Market 1981–2020: Private Collection, United Kingdom 2020: (Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, United Kingdom, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) September 14, 2020–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Temples and Worship in South Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14, 2024-March 9, 2025).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Captain Linnaeus Tripe (British, 1822–1902)
- Date
- 1858
- Medium
- albumenized salt print
- Dimensions
- Image: 38 x 30.2 cm (14 15/16 x 11 7/8 in.); Image with black margin: 39.5 x 31.2 cm (15 9/16 x 12 5/16 in.); Paper: 39.5 x 31.2 cm (15 9/16 x 12 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 2020.208
More by Captain Linnaeus Tripe in museum collections
Great Pagoda, Great Bull, Front View, Tanjore, India (Rajarajeshvara Temple), plate 12 from Photographic Views of Tanjore and Trivady (Madras: Madras Presidency)
Captain Linnaeus Tripe1857 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000351
West and South Sides of the Vimana Walls, Great Temple (Brihadeshvara) at Tanjore (Thanjavur)
Captain Linnaeus Tripe1858 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000383
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000384
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00006951
Open-access museum record · AT-00000382
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