The Body of Tippoo Sultaun Recognised by his Family

To depict the family lamenting over Tipu’s corpse, Henry Singleton returned to a more neoclassical composition and mood. Once safely dead, Tipu could be associated pictorially with the heroes of classical antiquity affording some dignity, being shown as a man who deserves to be mourned. The body, laid out on a couch, is surrounded by wailing women and children, whose hysterical gestures raise futile protests against the event, even as the stillness and solemnity of serious-minded men confirm it as certain.