Cleveland Museum of Art

The Taj Mahal

Dr. John Murray

Date

c. 1858–62

Medium

albumen print

Culture

England

Department

Photography

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This view of the Taj Mahal, shot from the bank of the Yamuna River, offers a dramatic contrast between the seemingly perfect white marble monument in the background and dark, ruined structures in the foreground. It sets the Taj into a broader geographic and cultural context by including nature (the river) and two cultures, one that has crumbled and another that, because it approaches aesthetic perfection, has been carefully preserved. The Taj Mahal is a monument to lost love, built by Shah Jahan in 1632–53 to house the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

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