This painting by William Carpenter (1818-1899) shows a view of the Jami Masjid in Delhi as seen from the upstairs balcony of a grand house, which overlooks the street leading to the north entrance. Members of the Muslim household are seen taking refreshments on the carved wooden balcony. The Jami Masjid is India's largest mosque and was built between 1644 and 1656 during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

In early 1850 Carpenter set off in the footsteps of his younger brother Percy, also an artist, and landed in Bombay. He spent much of his time painting portraits of local rulers and the surrounding countryside, often sporting Indian dress himself. He travelled widely, from Sri Lanka to Kashmir, and he also spent some time in the Panjab and Afghanistan before moving south to Rajasthan. He appears to have returned to England in 1856. Ten years later he was living in Boston, but he later returned to London, where he died.

Carpenter was the eldest son of the distinguished portrait painter Margaret Sarah Carpenter (née Geddes) and William Hookham Carpenter, who was Keeper of the Prints and Drawings Department at the British Museum.