1878
oil
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Copy of painting inside the caves of Ajanta (cave 11) is a 1878 oil by John Griffiths, a British Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting is a copy of an ancient cave mural inside India’s Ajanta caves. It shows a Bodhisattva surrounded by spirits and forest figures in a dreamy landscape. The original Ajanta paintings date back over 2,000 years. They tell stories of the Buddha’s past lives, but many are too fragile to see today. Griffiths’ copy helps preserve what’s fading. Look up John Griffiths if you want to see more of his work.
This copy reproduces a Bodhisattva figure from Cave 11 at Ajanta, shown in an upper register with an elaborate crown and holding a floral sprig in the left hand. Surrounding the central figure are various genies and forest-dwellers, including half-human, half-bird Kinnaras playing cymbals in the upper left, a green-skinned forest inhabitant, and other celestial couples such as possible Gajakarnas with large ears. Beneath these figures are ascetic and paired genie motifs, all set within a green landscape typical of Ajanta’s narrative murals. The white conservation patches indicate areas of…
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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