Exam 1 (more info) Flashcards
1
Q
Indus Valley Seal
A
- used to stamp goods for trading
- can identify the owner
- helped uncover the Indus Valley Civilization
- were relatively skilled based off of the accuracy of human and animal anatomy in the seals
- showed they were economically and politically successful
2
Q
Lion capital of a column erected by Emperor Ashoka
A
- becomes an adopted symbol of the newly independent India
- Buddhist monuments were aniconic at the time
- darma chakra (wheel of law)
- Buddha = chakravartin/”wheel-turner”
- 4 animals represent 4 rivers
- 4 lions represents the 4 cardinal directions/the extent that Buddhism and the Mauryan empire will spread
- lotus base - lotus flower represents purity, rising clean from murky environment
3
Q
Standing Buddha dedicated by the monk Bala
A
- shift to Mahayana Buddhism (Buddha is god and savior surrounded by bodhisattvaas) which made the religion more accessible and attractive to ordinary people
- Roman influence because many Indians trained in Roman styles
- Roman influence transforms Buddha into a human-turned-divine
4
Q
Seated Buddha from Gandhara
A
- contains the distinguishing marks of Buddha: ushmisha, urna (bindi-type mark), dharmachakra mudra (hand gesture for teaching in which Buddha sets the Wheel of Law in motion as well as counting the principles of his 8-Fold Path of Righteousness on his fingers)
- winged lions on the back of his throne symbolize royalty, the Buddha as the lion of the Shakya clan, and the regal roar and authority of his preaching
- Buddha’s idealized features fuse human beauty with a sense of spiritual purity
- Guptas achieved a delicate balance between detailed and idealized forms that is one of the characteristics of classical Indian art
5
Q
Borobudur
A
- base and first 5 levels represent the terrestrial world/samsara
- the next 5 tiers show scenes from the life of Buddha taken from the jatakas and the sutras
- ultimate diagram or mandala of the Buddhist cosmos and ideal of existence
- traveling the Borobudur can help viewers go through their lives, as well as the Buddha’s
- the symbolism of the architecture and the reliefs to be viewed while encircling it outline a microcosm of all earthly and heavnely existense in a statement of the Mahayana Buddhist philosophy
- difference from Stupa and Hinayana Buddhism is that the Borobudur shows the ascent as many-leveled but possible in one lifetime
6
Q
Shiva and Parvati
A
- worshipped because Shiva is one of Hinduism’s 3 main deities but also because Shiva and Parvati are a divine couple, representing both the male and female aspects of god
- used to help attain a personal relationship with god, by enjoying “darshan,” or god’s presence, by using physical objects as a tool to focus their mind on god
- religious architecture very popular at the time
- culture was one that valued the ability to strengthen faith by bringing the common people into direct contact with the divine
7
Q
Kailasanatha Temple at Ellora
A
- Shiva is the main, but not only, focus
- meant to represent Mount Kailasa (“Magic Mountain”) which is the dwelling place of Shiva and his consort
- one of the last rock-cut temples
- incorporating the religious site into the environment
- gopura: exterior screen wall to block sacred space from secular space
- garbhagrina: main shrine, lingam of Shiva, heart/most sacred space of the temple, means “embryo chamber,” human forms would pollute the sacred, divine area with earthly depictions which is why the abstract, lingam form is used
8
Q
Jahangir Preferring a Sufi to Kings
A
- book is presented to Shaykh Husayn, keeper of an important shrine near Jahangir’s palace
- placing of multiple figures in the one corner upsets the balance of the piece
- other man is an Ottoman ruler
- then James 1 of England copied after an Engilsh portrait of the king seen in India
- last character is likely a self-portrait of Bichitr
- Jahangir’s grand gesture demonstrates how his reverence for the spiritual life is over worldly matters
9
Q
Miniature of a Mughal Prince
A
- not meant to be idolized
- no religious context, only a secular context
- not to be seen by a ton of people
- 2D
