Art of India

After 1200

By Athena Rivas

Stokstad 20-1 Taj Mahal, Agra, India. Mughal

period, c. 1632-48

-The building shimmers in the pools of the garden, which meant

to evoke a vision of paradise in the Koran.

*Koran- Holy Book of Islam-Facades delicately inlaid with inscriptions and arabesques in semi-precious stones- carnelian, agate, coral, turquoise, garnet, lapis, and jasper.-Built in the 17th century -Built by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favorite wife.

Stokstad Map 20-1 India after 1200

* The Indian Subcontinent was subject to continual invasions that caused the boarders of its kingdom to contract and expand until its kingdom to contract and expand until the establishment of modern-day India in the 20th century.

Late Medieval Period • 1200, India was already among the

worlds oldest civilizations.• The art that still survived from its

earlier periods are almost exclusively sacred.

• Most art was inspired by 3 principle religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

• The late medieval period extends roughly from 1200 to about 1600.

Stokstad 20-2The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

from, Kurkihar Bihar. Medieval period, 12th century. Gilt-bronze height 10”

Buddhist Art

• At the beginning of the Late Medieval period, the principle Buddhist centers were concentrated in the northeast.

• Avalokireshvara the buddhisttva of greatest compassion, became one of the most popular saintly beings in India and East Asia.

• Avalokiteshvara can be shown in the posture of relaxed ease known as the royal pose.

*Vocabulary Words**iconographic images: techniques for visualizing deities

*Bodhisattvas: are beings who are well advanced on the path to Buddhahood and who have vowed out of compassion to help others achieve enlightenment.

• need more formal and contextual analysis of 20-2

Jain Art• Jian religion traces it roots to a

spiritual leader called Mahavria(599-527 BCE)

• There is a series of twenty-four saviors known as the pathfinders, or tirthankaras.

• what does the religion believe followers should do?

• In western India, primarily in the region of Gujarat, created many illustrated manuscripts

• tell us that Musim control caused more private than public expression

Stokstad 20-3 Detail of leaf with The Birth of Mahavira

Late medieval Period, Western India, c.1375-1400, Gouache on paper size?

*calligraphy: decorative handwriting or handwritten lettering.

• Produced in the fourteenth century.• One of the first Jain manuscripts on paper rather

than palm leaf.• The birth of Mahavria.• Is shown cradled in his mothers arms as she

reclines in her bed under a canopy, attended by 3 ladies in-waiting.

• Decorated pavilions and a shrine with peacocks on roof suggest a luxurious palace setting.

• Everything appears two-dimensional against the red and blue ground.

• Vibrant colors• drawing is closely linked to the calligraphy; as if

the words had suddenly flared into color and image

• what about box “Foundations of Indian culture”?

• BTW--general comment--I like the vocabulary you put on the side where it appears

Stokstad 20-4 Outer gopura of the Minkakshi-Sundarshvara Temple,

MaduraiSouth India, Late Medieval Period, Nayak dynasty,

mostly 13th to the mid-17th century

need formal and contextual analysis of this work

Hindu Art

• During the Early Medieval period Hinduism became the dominate religious tradition of India.

• Late Medieval period emphasized on monumental individual temples.no, it says that his gave way to vast temple complexes and ore moderately scaled yet more richly ornamented individual temples

• Vijayanager kings lavished donations on sacred shrines.

Vocabulary:*Temple complex- moderately scaled ornamented temples.*gopuras- entrance gateways.*vimana- the pyramidal tower characteristic of the seventh-century southern temple style.

Mughal Period

• Islam first touched the South Asian Subcontinent in the eighth century.

• Muhammad Zahir-ud-Din was the first emperor of India(ruled in 1526-30)

• He emphasized the Turkic heritage.

• He amassed am empire stretching from Afghanistan to Delhi.

• The Mughal empire lasted until 1858.

Vocabulary:•Mausoleums – a building, a large and stately one, housing a tomb or tombs.•Mosques- a Muslim place of worship.

Mughal Architecture

• Mughal architects were heir to a 300-year-old tradition of Islamic building in India.

• Architects had introduced two fundamental Islamic structures, the mosque and the tomb, and the arch and the dome.

• Drawn freely on Indian architecture using both decorated and structural elements to create a variety of hybrid styles

Vocabulary:•Cenotaphs-a tomblike monument to someone buried elsewhere•Minaret-a tall slender tower, typically part of a mosque •Chattri-dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indian architecture•Chamfered- cut away to make a symmetrical sloping edge.•Finial-a distinctive ornament at the apex of a roof, pinnacle, canopy, or similar structure in a building.•Iwan-a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. •Drum-something resembling or likened to a drum in shape, in particular.

Mughal ArchitectureVocabulary:•Cenotaphs-a tomblike monument to someone buried elsewhere•Minaret-a tall slender tower, typically part of a mosque •Chattri-dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indian architecture•Chamfered- cut away to make a symmetrical sloping edge.•Finial-a distinctive ornament at the apex of a roof, pinnacle, canopy, or similar structure in a building.•Iwan-a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. •Drum-something resembling or likened to a drum in shape, in particular.

You have to show and tell us plate 12-5 and talk about these items on the left in the context of the Taj mahal

Also, where is info on box “Technique: Indian Painting on Paper” on p. 793?

Stokstad 20-6Page with Hamza’s Pies Scale the Fortress

North India, Mughal period, reign of Akbar, c.1567-82, Gouache on cotton

• One man climbs a rope; another has already beheaded a figure in yellow and lifts his head aloft

• what is story about?• Realistic details are never avoided in

panting from the Mughal atelier.• Richly variegated geometric patterns of

tile work, which are painted as though they have been set flat on the page.

• Each tree species is carefully distinguished.

• Painting from the reign of Jahangir.• What about Persian style and Mughal

school

Stokstad 20-7 Abul Hansan and Manohar. Page with Jahanangir in Darbar

North India, Mughal period, reign of Jahangir, c.1620. Gouache on paper.

• Shows emperor holding an audience at court.• Jahangir himself is depicted at top center,

seated on a balcony under a canopy.• Figures lined up in profile or three-quarter view.• Foreground, an elephant and a horse complete

the symmetrical format.• Figures in audience are a medley of portraits.• Represent a symbolic gathering rather than an

actual event.• Scene is formal.• It is two-dimensional.• Fresh colors with varied range of pastel tones.• Finest paintings of Jahangir's time.

Stokstad- Panel from a boxNayak dynasty Tamil Nadu, South India,

Late 17th-18th century. Ivory backed with gilded paper

Good for you! You did the box on p.796!

• Container for personal belongings such as jewelry, perfume, or cosmetics.

• Ivory relief is a brilliant example if south Indian secular arts.

• Decorative arts of India represent the height of opulent luxury.

• Metalwork and work in rock crystal, agate, and jade, carving, in ivory, and intricate jewelry are all characteristics Indian arts.

• Many pieces, like the carved ivory panel illustrated, have no date or record of manufacture or ownership

• Their huge eyes under heavy brows suggest the intensity of their gaze, & choice of profile shows of their long noses and thick lips.

• Hair is tightly controlled; men have huge buns and women have long braids hanging down their backs.

• Rich jewelry and well-fed bodies of the couples indicate a high station in life.

• Voluptuous figures- rounded buttocks thighs, tummies hanging over jeweled belts, and sharply intended slim waists that emphasized seductive breasts.

• Jewelry- bracelets, armbands, necklaces, huge earrings, & ribbons.

Stokstad 20-8Page with Krishna and the Gopis

from the Gita Govinda, Rajasthan, India. Mughal period, c.1525-50 Gouache on paper.

Tell us about Rajput Painting and Bhakti movement

• Illustration is from a manuscript of the Gita Govinda produced in the region of Rajasthan about 1525-50.

• Blue god Krishna sits in dalliance with a group of cowherd women.

• Radha peers through the trees, overcome by jealousy. Here feelings are indication by the cool blue colors.

• Flowering vines and trees express springtime.• Birds, birds, and flowers, are brilliant as

fireworks against the black, hilly landscape edged in the undulating white line.

• Figures are of a single type, with plump faces in profile and oversized eyes.

Stokstad 20-9Hour of Cowdust

Punjab Hills, India. Mughal period. C.1790. Gouache on paper.

• contrast this with previous paining

• where is format analysis?

• He returns to the village with his fellow cowherds and there cattle.

• All eyes are upon him as he plays his flute

• Said to enchant anyone who heard it

Stokstad 20-10B.P. Mathur and Pierre Jeanneret. Gandhi,

Punjab University, Chandigarh, North India. Modern Period, 1959-61

modern period--tell us background, history, and politics

• Hall was designed in the late 1950’s by Indian architect B.P.Mathur in collaboration with Pierre Jeanneret.

• Gandhi Bhavan’s three-part, pinwheel plan, abstract sculpture qualities.

• Fluid use of planes reflect the modern vision of international style.

• The surrounding pools represent Mughal tombs.

• Ritual-bathing pools of Hindu temples.• Abstract style is free of specific religious

associations.• Caught between sky, earth, and water.