File RAS GOV7/24 - Copy of a letter by Capt. R. Gill, Jabneh, 29 March 1849

Identity area

Reference code

GB 891 RAS GOV7-RAS GOV7/24

Title

Copy of a letter by Capt. R. Gill, Jabneh, 29 March 1849

Date(s)

  • 29th Mar 1849 (Creation)

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Extent and medium

3.5 pages handwritten

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Major Robert Gill was an army officer, antiquarian, painter and photographer in British India. He is best known for his paintings, copying the frescoes of the Ajanta Caves. Gill was the first painter – after their rediscovery in 1819 – to make extensive copies of the Buddhist cave paintings, which mostly date to the 5th century CE. His surviving copies and drawings remain significant in Ajanta studies as the originals have significantly deteriorated since his time.

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Scope and content

'Copy of a letter addressed to Col. Sykes by Capt. R. Gill, dated Jabneh, 29 March 1849' in which he writes of his latest series of paintings which comprise of copies of nearly all the paintings of the verandah of the caves except that which was supposed to be a representation of the zodiac, but which appeared to Gill as a representation of the states of man. Gill continues to describe the caves and their paintings, inscriptions and layout.

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  • English

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