[The Maidan from Government House During the Rains]
1858–61
![[The Maidan from Government House During the Rains] by John Constantine Stanley](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/the-maidan-from-government-house-during-the-rains-287684.webp)
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Image: 13.8 x 20.9 cm (5 7/16 x 8 1/4 in.) Mount: 33 x 26 cm (13 x 10 1/4 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Cynthia Hazen Polsky Gift, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.491.1 (16b)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Captured from the vantage point of Government House in Calcutta (now Kolkata), *The Maidan from Government House During the R* (1858–61) by John Constantine Stanley offers a rare glimpse into colonial India during the monsoon season. The Maidan, a vast open expanse used for parades, sports, and public gatherings, out beneath brooding skies, with elegant arches and buildings framing the scene. This albumen silver print, a pioneering 19th-century photographic process using egg whites to bind light-sensitive chemicals, produces the work's remarkable clarity and rich tonal contrasts, capturing the...