The Palace, Delhi. India - 1878

Oil painting on paper of the Palace at Delhi by Marianne North (1830-1890), dated November 1878. Marianne North visited India in 1877-79 and completed over 200 paintings whilst there. She wrote in Volume II of 'Recollections of a Happy Life' (1892), "At last I got to Delhi...I worked regularly in the famous old marble palace which used originally to hold the peacock throne. The shell which held it was so rich I could easily believe any tales of its original splendour. It was built of pure white marble, inlaid with precious stones, elaborately carved and gilt in intaglio, and the general tone was rich, from the quantity of gold used." The painting shows part of the private royal apartments in the Red Fort built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1627-1658) ast part of his new capital city on the banks of the Jumna at Delhi. This view shows the inside of a cusped arch of the Diwan-i Khas or Hall of Private Audience with the bulbous dome of the Balcony of Dreams beyond.

Source : British Library