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