The subject of this painting is the Sang-i Dalan palace complex at Motijhil, built in 1743. The artist was probably Sita Ram, an accomplished Bengali painter who accompanied Francis Rawdon (later first marquess of Hastings; governor-general of Bengal) on his tours of northern India between 1814 and 1823. Like the other works made for Hastings, this painting no doubt captures what the traveling party saw, but the painting evokes a timeless mood rather than a fleeting moment from a trip—an impression that is further emphasized by the artist’s decision to depict the Motijhil site from behind, excluding the main palace and emphasizing the remaining buildings’ state of decay.