1878
oil
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Copy of painting inside the caves of Ajanta (cave 6) is a 1878 oil by John Griffiths, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
John Griffiths painted this copy inside India’s Ajanta caves in the late 1800s. He and seven students worked for 13 winters to remake paintings after a fire destroyed earlier copies. This oil version shows one of the Buddha’s past-life stories on the cave’s ceiling. The white patches you see are cracks from the cave’s age, not paint. They’re part of why teams copied the art—to save it. Check out more by Griffiths, John.
A damaged copy of a ceiling painting from Ajanta Cave 6, this work features a damaged floral frieze with curling stalks, varied flowers, and fruit, created by John Griffiths and students between 1872 and 1885. The original Ajanta murals, dating from the 1st century BC to AD 480, depict Buddhist narratives and were first documented after the cave’s rediscovery in 1819. Earlier copies by Major Robert Gill were largely lost in a fire in 1866, prompting the later campaign led by Griffiths. The work was commissioned by the Government of India and later deposited in the India Museum, London.
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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