Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000383West and South Sides of the Vimana Walls, Great Temple (Brihadeshvara) at Tanjore (Thanjavur)
Also known as: Great pagoda, west and south sides of basement of bamanum; West and South Sides of the Vimana Walls, Great Temple, Thanjavur; West and South Sides of the Vimana Walls, Great Temple (Brihadeshvara) Thanjavur (Tanjore)
About the Artwork
The double-storied exterior base of one of the largest temples constructed and still standing on the Indian subcontinent is articulated with niches containing images of Hindu gods. Within these walls is an inner sanctum containing a monolithic linga (the phallic emblem marking the sacred presence of the god Shiva). Tripe used waxed paper instead of glass negatives, possibly because he was concerned about breakage and weight. When printing the photograph, he laid the negative on a paper treated with a light-sensitive emulsion of sodium chloride (table salt) and silver nitrate and exposed it to light, to create a “salt print.”
Inscriptions
Imprinted in black type on white paper adhered to recto of mount: "15"; Embossed on recto of mount: "LT/Photographer to Government"
Provenance
Newberry Library Collection, Chicago, IL October 31, 1989: (Sotheby's, New York, NY, October 31, 1989 sale) (Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA) 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 from a waxed paper negative
- Dimensions
- Image: 27.4 x 36 cm (10 13/16 x 14 3/16 in.); Paper: 27.4 x 36 cm (10 13/16 x 14 3/16 in.); Mounted: 45.3 x 57.3 cm (17 13/16 x 22 9/16 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 2020.210
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
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Western Gateway (Gopuram) of the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai
Captain Linnaeus Tripe1858 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000382
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000384
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
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Open-access museum record · AT-00000383
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