On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Madura: The Blackburn Testimonial
Linnaeus Tripe British
Not on view
This photograph is a telling amalgam of India and Great Britain. The column in the foreground was named after John Blackburn, chief representative of the East India Company in the district, who oversaw the transformation of Madura in the 1840s. Hoping to advance "public health and safety" and make Madura "the best town in South India," he ordered old stone fortifications to be torn down and a new network of streets to be constructed. The gas lamp atop the column was kept continually burning. In the background, Tripe captured the domes, high roofs, and columns from the great palace of Trimul Naik, whose family had ruled this area for hundreds of years until they were defeated by the British in 1736.
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