Thomas Daniell began his career as a landscape painter. In 1784 he came to India with his nephew William. They both remained in India for seven years. Together they executed a number of major works in engraving, oils and water colours.

The large oil paintings on canvas, done by them, were regularly exhibited to select audiences in Britain. Their albums of engravings were bought up by the British who wanted to know about Britain’s Empire.

‘Oriental Scenery’ is the title given to the monumental six-volume work of 144 hand-coloured engravings made by Thomas Daniell and his nephew William.

The paintings by Thomas Daniell showed the ruins of local buildings that were once grand. The paintings seemed to reveal that India would change and modernise only through British governance. The idea of British rule bringing modern civilisation to India is powerfully emphasised in the numerous pictures of late-eighteenth-century Calcutta drawn by the Daniels.