Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000384Entrance to the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai
Also known as: The great pagoda, entrance to menatchee pagoda
About the Artwork
With its multiple gateways, rising to ever greater heights the farther they stand from the center, the Minakshi Sundareshvara temple was one of the monuments Tripe selected for his series documenting India’s architectural achievements in photographs. In 1858, the year this photograph was taken, India became a colony ruled by Britain, and the new colonial government supported Tripe’s project. He sold the images to the British public in pre-selected sets mounted in albums. Tripe was a military officer working to protect the interests of the British East India Company, which controlled sourcing, transportation, and sale of goods from India for profit.
Inscriptions
Imprinted in black type on white paper adhered to recto of mount: "15"; Written in graphite on recto of mount: "G/A1"; Embossed on recto of mount: "LT/Photographer to Government"
Provenance
Paul F. Walter [1935–2017] June 5, 1996: (Christie's, London, United Kingdom) 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
- albumen print from a waxed paper negative
- Dimensions
- Image: 30.6 x 37.1 cm (12 1/16 x 14 5/8 in.); Paper: 30.6 x 37.1 cm (12 1/16 x 14 5/8 in.); Mount: 45.5 x 57.3 cm (17 15/16 x 22 9/16 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 2020.212
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
Western Gateway (Gopuram) of the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai
Captain Linnaeus Tripe1858 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000382
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 Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00006951
Open-access museum record · AT-00000384
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