Skip to main content
Akbar's Tomb, South Front from East Side of Courtyard with Two Figures
Akbar's Tomb, South Front from East Side of Courtyard with Two Figures

Akbar's Tomb, South Front from East Side of Courtyard with Two Figures

John Murray (English, 1809–1898)
about 1858–62
Medium/TechniquePhotograph, waxed paper negative
DimensionsImage/Sheet: 36.7 x 47.0 cm (14 7/16 x 18 1/2 in.)
Credit LineSophie M. Friedman Fund
Accession number1999.529
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPhotographs
Description
John Murray learned photography in 1849 while he was stationed near the Taj Mahal with the army medical service of the East India Company, and he became an expert in the paper negative process. During his forty years in India, he traveled widely in the north to photograph the masterpieces of Mughal architecture. The waxed paper negative, which did not need immediate developing, was well suited to his project. Emperor Akbar's tomb, dating from the seventeenth century, is represented in the Museum’s collection as both a paper negative and a positive albumen print. Murray blackened the sky in the negative so that in the print it has a uniform tone that balances the spaciousness of the courtyard, allowing the architectural ensemble to dominate the composition.
ProvenanceSotheby's London, June 1999; Charles Isaacs 19th & 20th Century Photographic Masterworks, Malvern, PA; purchased December 1999.
RESTRICTED: For reference only
Marquis de Rostaing
1854
Reclining Nude
Julien Vallou de Villeneuve
1853–54
Fort, Southern India
Captain Linnaeus Tripe
about 1858–9
Indian Temple
Captain Linnaeus Tripe
1858
Arched Doorway
James Stack Lauder
Ancient Ruins
Emile Pécarrère
1851–52
Vallée de Luchon
Eugene Mailand
about 1860