1874
oil
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Copy of painting inside the caves of Ajanta (Cave 1) is a 1874 oil by John Griffiths, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
John Griffiths made this oil copy in 1873–74 of a cave painting in India. The original 1st-century-BC artwork in Ajanta Cave 1 tells stories of the Buddha’s past lives, called Jatakas. This panel shows the Champaka Jataka. White patches on the copy mark fragile areas needing care. Most of Major Robert Gill’s earlier copies burned in 1866, so Griffiths and his students recreated them each winter for years. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum.
This copy depicts a scene from the Champaka Jataka in Cave 1 at Ajanta, where a central figure, likely a raja, is seated beneath a decorated porch with pillars, wearing jewelry and a striped lower garment. Two women with long curly hair stand before him, one offering a sword, while two naga-headed faces appear below them, and another figure is faintly visible to the left. The painting shows signs of fire damage, with white conservation patches covering fragile areas, and employs perspective in the background doorway. The work is one of approximately 300 copies produced between 1872 and 1885…
Read the full account in the museum source.
John Griffiths (29 November 1837 – 1 December 1918) was a Welsh artist who worked in India, noted for his Orientalist works.
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