Gantz, John (1772 – 1853) – Landscape in Southern India, probably near Madras.

Gantz was born in India and worked for the East India Company as a draughtsman and surveyor. He lived in Madras (Chennai) and his known works are almost all records of the local landscape and architecture. There are number of drawings by him of the temples and sculptures of nearby Mahabalipuram in the India Office Library and it is possible that this drawing is made there too - the inscription on the back of this sheet is indistinct and contemporary spelling of Indian place names is inconsistent. Gantz owned a lithographic press at Madras on which he worked with his son Justinian who was also an artist and miniaturist who moved to Burma as a Company draughtsman in the 1820s.