INDIAN PAINTINGS Flashcards
The history of paintings can be known from primitive rock paintings of Bhimbetaka, ________&______.
Mirzapur and Panchmarhi.
Kamasutra is written by?
Vatsyayana.
Six main principles/limbs or shadanga of paintings as per Kamasutra?
- Variety of form– Rupabheda.
- Portrayal of likeliness of the subject– Sadrisyam.
- Creation of luster and gleam with the colours– Bhava.
- Mixing of colours to resemble the effects of modelling– Varnikabhanga.
- Proportion of the object or subject– Pramanam.
- Immersion of emotions– Lavanyayoganam.
Define Lepya Chitra and Lekhya Chitra?
- Lepya Chitra– the representation of the myths and lore on textiles.
- Lekhya Chitra– which has line or drawings.
Other types– Dhuli Chitra, Pata Chitra, etc.
The play, Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadutta, mentioned the name of various paintings or patas, which are important to understand the different style of paintings and to observe all the principles of paintings. Some of the styles were?
- Cauka Pitaka– Isolated framed drawings.
- Dighala Pitaka– Long scrolls of paintings.
- Yama Pitaka– Isolated paintings.
What are Petroglyphs?
- The pre historic paintings were generally executed on rocks and these rock engravings were called Petroglyphs.
- The first set of pre historic paintings were discovered in Bhimbetaka caves in Madhya Pradesh in 1957‐58 by V.S. Wakankar.
Why the Bhimbetaka pre historic paintings have been called the “Zoo Rock Shelter”?
Because it depicts elephants, rhinoceros, cattle, snake, spotted deer, barasingha, etc.
Enumerate major phases of pre historic paintings?
- Upper Paleolithic Period (40000-10000 BC)
- Mesolithic Period (10000-4000 BC)
- Chalcolithic Period.
Features of paintings of Upper Paleolithic Period?
- Walls of rock shelters made of quartzite so
- Minerals used for pigments.
- Most common mineral was ochre or geru (Haematite) mixed with lime and water.
- White, dark red and green were used to depict large animals like elephant, tigers.
- For human figurines, red was used for hunters and green mostly for dancers.
Features of paintings of Mesolithic Period?
- Use of red colour mainly.
- Size of paintings became smaller in comparison to Upper Paleolithic Period.
- Group hunting most common scene.
- Grazing activity and riding scenes were other activities.
Features of paintings of Chalcolithic Period?
- Increase in number of paintings using the green and yellow colour.
- Depicting battle scenes (most common), men riding horses and elephants, some of them even carry bow and arrow.
- Other set of paintings from this period are at Narsinghgarh in Madhya Pradesh. - They have printings to show skins of spotted deer left for drying.
- Art of tanning skins was perfected by man.
- Depictions of musical instruments like the harp.
- Paintings from Joginara Caves in Ramgarh hills, in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh dated to be painted around 1000 BCE.
- Similar paintings can be seen in the Ghodsar and Kohabaur rock art sites in the district of Koriya.
- Another interesting site is in Chitwa Dongri (Durg district) where we find a chinese figure riding donkey, pictures of dragons and agricultural sceneries.
- Several interesting rock paintings have also been found in Limdariha in Bastar district and Oogdi, Sitalekhni in Sarguja district.
The paintings at Bhimbetaka belong to Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Chalcolithic, early historic and medieval period. However, most of the paintings belong to ______ age.
Mesolithic.
Identify the mural cave painting?
- Caves were carved out in 4th century AD out of volcanic rocks.
- Carved in horse shoe shaped.
- These caves are quite popular for their exquisite mural paintings that took around four to five centuries to complete under the reign of Mauryan Empire.
Ajanta Cave Paintings.
Murals in Ajanta Cave belong to which period?
Murals in cave 9 and 10 belong to the Shunga period, while the rest belong to the Gupta period. Cave no. 1 and 2 are the most recent of the caves in Ajanta.
Features of Ajanta Cave Paintings?
- Walls of the caves have both murals and fresco paintings.
- They use tempera style, i.e. use of pigments.
- Each female figure has a unique hairstyle.
- Animals and birds are shown with emotions.
- Common themes range from Jataka stories to life of Buddha.
- Medium of painting was vegetable and mineral dyes.
- Outline of the figures is red ochre, with contours of brown, black or deep red.
Some important paintings at Ajanta are?
- Some from the Jataka stories of the Buddha’s former lives as a bodhisattva, the life of the Gautama Buddha, etc.
- Paintings of various Bodhisattvas in tribhanga pose in Cave 1: Vajrapani (protector and guide, a symbol of Buddha’s power), Manjusri (manifestation of Buddha’s wisdom) and Padmapani (Avalokitesvara symbol of Buddha’s compassion).
- The Dying Princess in Cave.no 16.
- Scene of Shibi Jataka, where King Shibi offered his own flesh to save the pigeon.
- Scene of Matri-Poshaka Jataka where the ungrateful person saved by an elephant gives out his whereabouts to the king.
Phases of paintings in Ellora Cave?
- The mural paintings in the Ellora caves are found in five caves, mostly limited to Kailasa temple. These murals were done in two phases.
- The first phase paintings were done during the carving of the caves, while the second phase ones were done several centuries later.
- The earlier paintings show Vishnu with his consort Lakshmi borne through the clouds by Garuda, the celestial bird.
- The later paintings, made in Gujarati style, depict procession of Shaiva holy men.
- The paintings are related to all three religoins (Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism).
Some prominent Ellora cave paintings are: - Images of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Vishnu.
- Images of Lord Shiva with his followers.
- Beautiful and gracious Apsaras.
Features of Bagh Cave Paintings?
- Representing an extension to the Ajanta school, Bagh caves in Madhya Pradesh with their exquisite work rank quite close to the actual Ajanta caves in terms of their design, execution and decoration.
- The main difference is that, the figures are more tightly modeled have stronger outline, and are more earthly and human.
- Cave no. 4 known as Rang Mahal depicts Buddhist and Jataka tales.
- These paintings are more secular in nature.
Identify the Cave Paintings?
- Situated in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu these natural caves were converted into Jain temple in 8th century.
- Unbaked mud structures are located within the cave, which acted like the place of rest for Jain saints.
- The beautiful colourful paintings on the walls and roof depict the tales of Astathik Palakas (deities protecting eight corners) and Jainism.
Armamalai Cave Paintings.
Term Astathik Palakas meaning?
Astathik Palakas (deities protecting eight corners).
Features of Sittanavasal Cave (Arivar Koil) Paintings?
- Rock cut caves in Pudukkottai town in Tamil Nadu.
- Known for paintings in Jain temples.
- Close resemblance to Bagh and Ajanta paintings.
- Paintings are not only on the walls but also on the ceiling and pillars.
- Theme of Jain Samavasarana (Preaching hall).
- Pond with lotuses is the central element of these paintings. Flowers in this pond are collected by monks, there are shown ducks, swans, fishes and animals. This scene shows Samava-sarana- important scene in Jain religion.
- Medium used for painting is vegetable and mineral dyes, and is done by putting colours on surface of thin wet lime plaster.
What is Samava Sarana?
Samava Sarana is special, beautiful audience hall where Tirthankaras delivered sermons after they reached realisation (kevala-gnana).
Sittanavasal Caves belongs to which period?
- Some say they belong to the Pallava period, when king Mahendravarman 1 excavated the temple.
- Some say Pandya ruler renovated the shrine in the 7th century.
Identify the cave paintings?
- Located in the Keonjhar district of Odisha these ancient fresco paintings on a rock shelter are in a shape of half-opened umbrella.
- It is believed that this shelter acted like the royal hunting lodge.
- The most noticeable painting is that of a royal procession that dates back to 7th century.
- The remains of Chola period paintings, belonging to 11th century, are also of importance.
Ravan Chhaya Rock shelter.
Lepakshi paintings features?
- In Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, these mural paintings were executed on Veerabhhadra temple walls at Lepakshi in 16th century.
- Made during the Vijayanagara period, they followed a religious theme based on Ramayana, Mahabharata and incarnations of Vishnu.
- Paintings show a conplete absence of primary colours, especially blue.
- They depict a decline in painting in terms of quality.
- The forms, figures and details of their costumes are outlined with black colour.
Jogimara Cave paintings are located in?
Surguja district of Chhattisgarh.
Rock cut theatre of Sitabenga is also located nearby.
Features of Murals at Badami Cave Temples, Karnataka?
- They are one of the earliest surviving Hindu paintings.
- Resemble the tradition of Ajanta and Bagh.
- Human subjects have big, half closed eyes with protruding lips.
What are miniature paintings?
The word ‘miniature’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Minium’, which means red lead paint. This paint was used in the illuminated manuscripts during the Renaissance period.
Miniatures are small and detailed paintings.
Preconditions that are necessary to be fulfilled for making miniature paintings?
- The Painting should not be larger than 25 square inch.
- The subject of the painting should be painted in not more than 1/6th of the actual size. Example, an adult head of 9 inches would not be painted larger than 1.5 inches.
Schools under Early Miniature paintings?
The art of miniature painting developed between 8th and 12th centuries.
Two prominent schools are:–
1. Pala School of Art.
2. Apabhramsa School of Art.
Features of Pala School of Art (miniature paintings)?
- Flourished during 750-1150 AD.
- These paintings are generally found as a part of Buddhist manuscripts and were generally executed on palm leaf or vellum paper.
- Characterized by sinuous lines and subdued tones of the background imagery.
- They are lonely single figures and one rarely finds group paintings.
- Patronized by some of those who promoted Buddhism.
- The proponents of the Vajrayana school of Buddhism also used and patronized these paintings.
The prominent painters were Dhimman and Vitapala.
Features of Apabhramsa School of Art?
- Origin– Gujarat and Mewar region in Rajasthan.
- Most common themes of these paintings were Jain and in the later period the Vaishnava School appropriated them too.
- They brought in the concept of Gita Govinda and secular love into these paintings that were otherwise dominated by Jain iconography.
- In the early Jain phase, the paintings were made on Palm leaf but in the later period they were made on paper.
- They did not develop a different style but were mural paintings in a reduced dimension.
- Features of human figures:– fish shaped bulging eyes, a pointed nose and a double chin.
- They tried to begin the trend to make angular faces in the third and fourth people.
- Female figurines have enlarged hips and breasts.
- The animal and bird figurines are represented as toys.
Example:– Kalpasutra and the Kalakacharya Katha from 15th century.
Features of Miniature Art during Delhi Sultanate?
- Tried to bring together the persian elements of their origins with the Indian traditional elements.
- They gave preference to illustrated manuscripts. Example Nimatnama (a book on cookery).
- Another style Lodi Khuladar was prevalent which became the basis of the sultanate formulae.
- Later three major styles emerged that dominated the medieval landscape– Mughal, Rajput and Deccan.
What is ‘Nimatnama’?
Nimatnama is a book on cookery from the reign of Nasir Shah who ruled over Mandu.
Features of Mughal Era Miniature paintings?
- The focus shifted from depicting the god to glorifying the ruler and showing his life.
- Focused on hunting scenes, historical events and the court related paintings.
- Use of brilliant colours.
- Painters were supposed to concentrate on ensuring the accuracy of line drawing.
- They made only miniature paintings.
- They brought the technique of foreshortening– objects were drawn in a way that they look closer and smaller than they really are.
Features of Paintings under Babur?
He did not have much time to commission paintings, but he is said to have patronised the Persian artist called Bihzad.