Copy of painting inside the caves of Ajanta (Cave 9)

The copy was executed in oil paint using glazing techniques to approximate the luminous depth of the original frescoes. Artists applied thin, transparent layers to mimic the subtle color transitions and atmospheric effects of the ancient pigments. While the medium differs from the original tempera-on-plaster method, the reproduction prioritizes fidelity to composition, line, and chromatic harmony over technical replication.

After Major Robert Gill’s earlier copies were lost in a fire in 1866, the Bombay School of Art undertook a thirteen-year project to recreate the murals. Led by John Griffiths, seven Indian students traveled seasonally to Ajanta, working under difficult conditions to document the fading paintings. This particular work, like others in the series, was later dispersed to institutions in Britain and India as both scholarly records and cultural artifacts.

The Ajanta caves were inhabited and decorated over several centuries, from the 1st century BCE to the 5th century CE, during periods of Buddhist patronage under the Vakataka dynasty. By the 19th century, many murals were crumbling due to moisture, neglect, and environmental exposure. The copying project emerged amid growing colonial interest in India’s artistic heritage, driven by both preservationist motives and academic curiosity.

The Griffiths copies remain among the most comprehensive visual records of Ajanta’s lost details. Though not original, they preserved compositions and iconography that have since faded or been damaged. Today, they serve as reference points for conservation efforts and scholarly study, bridging 19th-century documentation practices with modern understandings of ancient South Asian art.