Fort St. William in Bengal, Oliver Hall, Oil on Canvas, 91.5x267 cms.

This painting of Fort St. William in Bengal was painted from a photograph of an etching by Van Ryne in 1754. With Fort St. William in distant background, the horizontal spread of this painting shows the Hoogly river flowing in the foreground with few sailing ships. Almost encircling it, Hoogly forms an informal boundary of the colossal fort. According to the 1931 catalogue authored by Sir Evan Cotton, St. Anne’s Church with its squat cupola (after its replacement following the cyclone of 1737) can be seen towards the left side of this composition. Aligning with European academic conventions, there is an expansive building in the centre of the painting which could have been the Governor’s House or just a factory. A row of hills extend towards the distant background. Amidst rows of architectural elements, swirling clouds adorn the sky while the fluttering flag of the Empire is displayed prominently. Contouring with the Company’s house, the right side reveals a rectangular building while the extreme right shows the house of Mr. Holwell who was one of the survivors of the Black Hole tragedy.The Black Hole of Calcutta was a small dungeon in old Fort William where troops of the Nawab of Bengal, Sirajud-Daulah, held British prisoners of war after the capture of the Fort in the year 1756.

Portfolio Name: Select Paintings of Rashtrapati Bhavan
Source: Lalit Kala Akademi