Tanjore: Great Pagoda, Inscriptions around Bimanum
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.One of Tripe’s most extraordinary projects was documenting the ancient Tamil inscriptions around the base of the Great Pagoda at Tanjore. In March and April 1858 he circled the temple, making twenty-one exposures to create this nineteen-foot-long panorama—the first of its kind in photography. An immensely difficult undertaking, it required Tripe to keep his camera perfectly level as he moved around the base and to make multiple negatives with a similar density and tonal range.
Artwork Details
- Title: Tanjore: Great Pagoda, Inscriptions around Bimanum
- Artist: Linnaeus Tripe (British, Devonport (Plymouth Dock) 1822–1902 Devonport)
- Date: March–April 1858
- Dimensions: composition: 21.3 × 570 cm (8 3/8 × 224 7/16 in.)
sheet: 44.4 × 605 cm (17 1/2 × 238 3/16 in.) - Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Collection Centre Canadien d' Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal
Acquired with the assistance of a grant approved by the Minister of Canadian Heritage under the terms of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act - Curatorial Department: Photographs