| Now that you have a handle on what neo-classical architecture is in Britain, we can take a look at neo-classical architecture in India, a British colony from the late-eighteenth century until 1947. Take a look at the building below. This is the Government House in Calcutta, commissioned by the Governor General of India, Lord Wellesley, in 1799. Government House was the Governor's dwelling in Calcutta. It was completed in 1803. Can you pick out some of the neo-classical elements? |
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Click on the image for a close-up.
Government House, Calcutta |
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Government House was built at great expense to the British East India Company. This organization had economic and political control of eastern India from 1765, when the Indian Mughal emperor granted them the rights to the revenues from the region. If the neo-classical style in Britain represented an ancient ideal for society, and a moral, upright set of values, what do you think it means in British-occupied India? Keep in mind that only a few British colonizers lived in India for more than a few years, and that unlike the U.S. colonies, Indians outnumbered the British throughout their rule in India. Is the neo-classical architecture universal? How do you think the Indian population of Calcutta responded to this building? What did it mean for the isolated British in India to see this building in the major colonial city in India? The building is huge, and it cost a fortune. What kinds of political, financial, and other resources do you think the East India Company had in order to build such a structure?
How does neo-classical architecture represent power? Think about the kinds of empires that the Greeks and Romans had. Do you think the British were trying to emulate those ancient empires in their eighteenth century world empire? What other contradictions and messages do you think arise from this building? |
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