Buland Darwaza with Figure

About the Artwork

This gateway is the entrance to the Great Mosque at Fatehpur Sikri, not far from where John Murray was stationed for half of his four decades in India. Murray was by profession a doctor in the army of the East India Company, a British trading company that ruled much of India from 1757–1858. He took up photography in 1849 and made it his personal mission to photograph the many famous buildings in the region.

Provenance

?-2004: (Vintage Works, Ltd. Fine Photography, Chalfont, PA) 2004–21: William S. and Margaret Lipscomb, Shaker Heights, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH December 6, 2021: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Quick Overview

Artist: Dr. John Murray (Scottish, 1809–1898)
Date: 1858–62
Medium: waxed paper negative
Dimensions: Image: 37.5 x 46.5 cm (14 3/4 x 18 5/16 in.); Paper: 37.5 x 46.5 cm (14 3/4 x 18 5/16 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: Gift of William and Margaret Lipscomb
Accession no.: 2021.203

More by Dr. John Murray in museum collections

The Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah
Dr. John Murray
c. 1858-62 · Photograph
Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00007940
The Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah
Dr. John Murray
c. 1858-62 · Photograph
Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00007946
The Taj Mahal
Dr. John Murray
c. 1858–62 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00012644
Shimla
Dr. John Murray
1865 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00012752

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.