Mausoleum of the Emperor Hoomayoon, Delhi

1866

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Mausoleum of the Emperor Hoomayoon, Delhi is a 1866 by Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet
When & what style?: 1866 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

Here’s a sunlit courtyard framed by red sandstone arches. The tomb’s dome rises behind them, its white marble glowing against a pale sky. Rousselet drew this while traveling in India, but he worried his sketches weren’t sharp enough. So he taught himself photography there—no small feat in the 1860s. The photos he took later helped him finish these detailed drawings back in France. To see how photography changed travel art, look up *Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet (French, 1845–1929)*.

The story of this work

Overview

Concerned that his drawings did not do justice to the splendor of India’s monuments, Rousselet learned photography in India that year, a remarkable accomplishment. He proved to be a talented photographer with a sophisticated sense of composition. The scenes in this volume sweep across sites of Sultanate, Rajput, and Mughal power in northern India, from the sacred Hindu city of Varanasi on the Ganges River to Alwar in Rajasthan. Also included are several scenes of industry and portraits of Indian rulers.