This view of the Taj Mahal, shot from the bank of the Yamuna River, offers a dramatic contrast between the seemingly perfect white marble monument in the background and dark, ruined structures in the foreground. It sets the Taj into a broader geographic and cultural context by including nature (the river) and two cultures, one that has crumbled and another that, because it approaches aesthetic perfection, has been carefully preserved.
![[Ruins of Ancient Palace, Fort Agra], John Murray, 1853–1858](https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/d698ef8d-6b85-4132-a666-ae764acec48f/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)
