A Buddhist Stupa in Manikiala

1863 · Painting · 35.6 × 50.8 cm

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “A Buddhist Stupa in Manikiala” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 15 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the painting

William Simpson (1823 - 1899) was a distinguished watercolourist and war artist. Having established his reputation by documenting the Crimean war in 1854, Day and Sons, the London lithography firm, commissioned him to sketch well-known sites in and around Delhi associated with the Revolt of 1857 by Indians against the rule of the British East India Company.

Simpson arrived in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1859 and travelled widely. His rapid pencil drawings formed the preparatory studies for his finished watercolours done after his return to London in 1862. His detailed journal, sketches and pictures from India resulted in these highly coloured, evocative, and romantic interpretations of the landscape and architecture.

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Simpson completed the painting of the Buddhist stupa of Manikiala, Punjab, in London in 1863. In his autobiography, Simpson notes – ‘I sketched the monument, and made notes of its details. It had been such a short time in India that I had acquired almost no knowledge of Hindu or Buddhist architecture, and I was perfectly unconscious of any question as to Greek architecture having reached the Punjab. In my diary, however, written at that time I mention that the mouldings “seemed almost pure Greek.”’

Victoria and Albert Museum