The Lât of Dhava and the Courtyard of Pirthi Raj, Delhi

1866

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Column

Dominant colour

The Lât of Dhava and the Courtyard of Pirthi Raj, Delhi is a 1866 by Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet, a Impressionism work, depicting Column, 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

You see a sunlit courtyard in Delhi, with a tall stone pillar in the center and people in loose robes walking or resting in the shade. Rousselet drew this while traveling through India in the 1860s. He worried his sketches weren’t accurate enough, so he taught himself photography there—something very few Europeans did at the time. This image comes from his book of drawings and photos showing daily life and grand monuments. To see more of his travel work, look up the subject *france, 19th century*.

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.