Download - Lecture, South and Southeast Asia
South and Southeast Asia
Taj Mahal, 1632–1647. Fig. 16-1.
South AsiaDates and Places: • 2600BCE to 1857CE• Indian subcontinentPeople:• Cultural diversity & religious
tolerance, polytheism• Indus civilization• Buddhism, Hinduism (developed
in later centuries BCE and early CE out of Vedic & Upanishad texts)
• Buddha (figure who advocated ascetism as end to rebirth (samsara) and path to enlightenment)
• Islam (Mughal Dynasty)Mithuna reliefs, Vishvanatha Temple,
Khajuraho, ca. 1000. Fig. 16-14.
South AsiaThemes:• Deities of Buddhism
and Hinduism • Scenes from the
Mughal court• TemplesForms:• Stupas, temples• Idealized & stylized
figures• Hieratic scaling• Sensuality & sexuality
Vishvanatha Temple, Khajuraho, ca. 1000. Fig. 16-13.
South Asia
Map, South & Southeast Asia
South Asia
Diagram and view, Great Stupa, Sanchi, third century BCE to
first century CE. Fig. 16-4.
Malwiya minaret, Great Mosque,
Samarra, Iraq, 848–852.
John Hancock Center, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Chicago, 1965-68
South Asia• Kushan Dynasty• Important Buddhist
monastery • Stupa for relics of
Buddha• Form based on burials
(world mountain)• Three-dimensional
mandala (sacred diagram of universe)
• Yasti corresponds to axis of the earth (axis mundi)
• Circumambulation to worship, enclosed space Diagram and view, Great Stupa,
Sanchi, third century BCE to first century CE. Fig. 16-4.
Group Activity
Gods, Goddesses & Gestures :
Interpreting South &
Southeast Asian Iconography
Yakshi, Great Stupa, Sanchi, mid-first century BCE to early first
century CE. Fig. 16-5.
#1
South Asia
Yakshi, Great Stupa, Sanchi, mid-first century BCE to early first century CE.
Fig. 16-5.
#1South Asia• Kushan Dynasty• Yakshi (goddess personifying
fertility and vegetation)• Holds onto mango tree
branch• Places left foot on trunk
(allows tree to flower)• Archetype of femininity later
used to represent Maya, the Buddha’s mother, giving birth
Nude Woman (Venus of Willendorf)28,000 - 25,000 BCEWillendorf, Austria
The Fertility Goddess
Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints
Theodore and George, icon, 7th century CE
Byzantine
Praxiteles Aphrodite of Knidos, ca. 350-340BCE
Greek
South Asia
Life and death of the Buddha (Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya & First Sermon at Sarnath), Gandhara, second century CE. Fig. 16-6.
#2
South Asia• Kushan Dynasty• Stories from the life of Buddha (now
represented as robed divine figure) • Early figural representation, narrative of
path to enlightenment • Top: Bhumispharsha mudra – right
hand touches earth as witness to enlightenment
• Bottom: Abhaya mudra – right hand in blessing while preaching the Eightfold Path to nirvana in the Deer Park at Sarnath
• Attributes: ushnisha (cranial bump), urna (dot between brows), halo (behind head), Wheel of Law, thin robe
• Roman influence? (equestrian figures)Life and death of the Buddha,
Gandhara, second century CE
#2
South Asia
Seated Buddha preaching first
sermon, Sarnath, second half of fifth century. Fig. 16-7.
#3
South Asia• Gupta Period • Standardization of Buddha’s
image• Clinging robe, seated in lotus
position, ushnisha, urna, halo• Eyes downcast in meditation,
hands make Wheel-turning gesture (dharmachakra mudra)
• Wheel of Law (teaching) at bottom (hieratic scaling)
• Smooth surface• Indian version of idealized form• For temple, not stupa Seated Buddha preaching first
sermon, Sarnath, second half of fifth century. Fig. 16-7.
#3
South Asia
#4
Dancing Shiva, rock-cut relief in cave temple, Badami,
India, 6th century CE, fig. 16-9
South Asia #4
Dancing Shiva, rock-cut relief in cave temple, Badami, India, 6th century CE,
fig. 16-9
• Chaluykya dynasty• Development of Hindu stone sculpture
& architecture• Hinduism also polytheistic, no prophet
or founder• Relief cut out of cliff• Shiva (God of destruction & renewal)
one of most important gods• Dances cosmic dance• Multiple limbs (18) refer to
superhuman powers, perform different mudras
• Matted hair piled on head• Rides bull (Nandi) & carries trident • Ganesha (elephant god) mimics Shiva• Hindu gods often part-man/part-
animal
South Asia - Mughal Empire
BASAWAN and CHATAR MUNI, Akbar
and the Elephant Hawai, Akbarnama,
ca. 1590. Fig. 16-15.
• Mughal Empire (16th century)• Muslim prince Akbar• Story of life of prince
(Akbarnama)• Court painting workshop
(watercolor miniatures)• Book illustrations• Akbar tames wild elephant• Allegory of strength and good
rule of prince• Form to communicate event’s
chaos (collapse of bridge, capsized boats)
• High horizon, intersecting diagonals, depth, dramatic gestures
BASAWAN and CHATAR MUNI, Akbar and the Elephant Hawai,
Akbarnama, ca. 1590. Fig. 16-15.
South Asia
South Asia
BICHITR, Jahangir Preferring a Sufi
Shaykh to Kings, ca. 1615–1618.
Fig. 16-16.
South Asia• Mughal Empire • Painted watercolor miniature• Famous artist (imperial workshop of
Jahangir, Akbar’s son & successor)• Shows refined tastes & cosmopolitan
court• European influences (Cupids inscribing
throne with wish for enduring rule)• Seated on hourglass throne (sands of
time )• Divine rule (Jahangir is haloed by sun
and crescent moon)• Identifiable figures (painter at bottom
holding miniature & gifts, signature on step stool)
• King James I of England, Turkish sultan, Sufi mystic at top (at top of hierarchy beneath emperor)
• Significance of spiritual power
BICHITR, Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaykh to Kings, ca. 1615–1618.
Fig. 16-16.
South Asia
Taj Mahal, 1632–1647.
Fig. 16-1.
South Asia• Mughal Empire • Muslim monumental tomb (mausoleum)
built by Shah Jahan (Jahangir’s son) for empress (Mumtaz Mahal)
• Dome-on-cube, illusion of weightlessness (precedent in earlier Islamic tombs)
• Iranian garden pavilion plan• Octagonal plan of tomb, Iranian niches
(pointed arch), dome in crown shape (taj), four minarets
• Proportional (width = height, dome height = façade height)
• Interplay of light & dark• Throne of God above the gardens of
paradise?
Taj Mahal, 1632–1647. Fig. 16-1.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0n9UgiUL7o
Secrets of the Taj Mahal, National Geographic
View, Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 11th to 17th centuries, Islamic
Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey, 532–537 Byzantine
The Dome and the Pointed Arch
Southeast AsiaDates and Places: • Beginning first
millennium CE • Java, Cambodia,
Thailand, Myanmar
People:• Influence of trade with
India• Buddhism, Hinduism
View, Borobudur, ca. 800. Java, Indonesia, Fig. 16-19.
Southeast AsiaThemes:• Temples • Deities
Forms:• Stone construction • Regional taste
Angkor Wat, first half of 12th century, Angkor, Cambodia
Fig. 16-20.
Southeast Asia
Walking Buddha, Sukhothai, 14th century.
Fig. 16-21.
#5
Southeast Asia
Walking Buddha, Sukhothai, 14th century. Fig. 16-21.
#5• Sukhothai kingdom (Thailand)• Developed the Walking
Buddha type (bronze)• Thai attributes: broad
shoulders, narrow waist, clinging robe
• Left foot forward, left hand raised in abhaya (do not fear) mudra, right arm hangs loosely
• Flame shoots from head• Focus on supernatural beauty
& perfection