The Ghauts of Benares

William Hodges's The Ghauts of Benares from 1787, in the Royal Academy of Arts, depicts the sacred bathing ghats along the Ganges at Varanasi, one of Hinduism's holiest cities. Hodges was the first professionally trained European landscape painter to work extensively in India, traveling the subcontinent from 1780 to 1784. His paintings introduced Indian landscape and architecture to European audiences with a sympathy and accuracy that transcended the Orientalist conventions of the period.

Hodges renders the stepped ghats and their reflection in the Ganges with atmospheric sensitivity to Indian light and architecture. His technique adapts the European landscape tradition to the specific qualities of Indian architecture and tropical atmosphere.