The Sacred Island of Devinath on the Ganges, Sultangunge

1866

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Allahabad

Dominant colour

The Sacred Island of Devinath on the Ganges, Sultangunge is a 1866 by Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet, a Impressionism work, depicting Allahabad, 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 quiet island on the Ganges River, dotted with small temples and trees, under a hazy sky. Rousselet drew this while traveling in India, but he worried his sketches didn’t show the place’s real beauty. So he learned photography there—something few Europeans did at the time. His photos later helped shape how the West saw India. If you like this, look up *The Cleveland Museum of Art* to see more of his work.

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.