ASIAN ART

1

• ASIAN ART
• Art 5 Section 33467
• INTRODUCTION
• AND
• PART I

2
Topographical map of AsiaBurma is known as
MyanmarLong Beach is at about 35 North
3
(No Transcript)
4
Sites of Indus or Harappan Civilization on the
Indus River in South Asia
5
Indus Valley Civilization Trade Routes c. 2600-
1700 CE
Indus Valley
6
Burial Mound, and the so-called Granary,
Mohenjo-daro, 2700- 1750 BCE
7
Great Bath, Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, ca. 26001900
BCE.Great Pyramid at Giza, the oldest, c. 2560
BCE
8
Seal with male three-headed figure seated on a
throne with Indic script. Seals are pressed into
clay, so the script we see will be reversed when
read. Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, ca. 26001900 BCE.
Steatite coated with alkali and baked, approx. 1
3/8 X 1 3/8. National Museum, New Delhi.
9
Torso of a male from Harappa. Probably Harappan
culture, c. 2300-1750 BCE. Red limestone. 3 1/2
H.National Museum, New Delhi
10
Robed male figure, from Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan,
ca. 2000 BCE. Steatite, 6 7/8 high. Two
viewsNational Museum of Pakistan, Karachi.
Compare to figure of seated Gudea, King of
Lagash, c. 2120 BCE. Musée du Louvre
11

• Dancing girl, bronze figurine, Mohenjo-Daro,
  ca.2500-1750 BCE,
• National Museum, New Delhi

12

• Historical and Religious origins of man in India.
• We have imperfect knowledge of the origins of
  habitation in India.
• People of the South probably migrated from
  Australia before the post-glacial period waters
  rose and separated the land masses.
• Earliest known art is found in caves from ca.
  5500 BCE
• in the Madhya Pradesh in central India, near
  Bhopal.
• The southern people are known as Dravidian.
• About 1500 BCE, tribes called the Aryans invaded
  from the north and introduced the literary
  tradition of the Vedas.
• Aryans sacrificed to deities who personified the
  forces of nature.

13
The Aryan QuestionsThere are strong linguistic
and cultural similarities between the Rigveda and
the early Iranian Avesta, deriving from the
Proto-Indo-Iranian times, often associated with
the Andronovo culture the earliest horse-drawn
chariots were found at Andronovo sites in the
Sintashta-Petrovka cultural area near the Ural
mountains and date to ca. 2000 BCE. The
Rig-Veda Samhita is the oldest significant
existent Indian text
14
THE MAURYAN EMPIRE c. 322- 185 BCE THE FIRST
IMPERIAL ARTLion capital of column erected by
Ashoka at Sarnath, India, ca. 250 BCE. Polished
sandstone, approx. 7 high. Archaeological
Museum, Sarnath. Compare to Achaemenid bull
capitals and an Indian tribute bearer with
perfume bottles. at the Apadana, Persepolis begun
by Darius in 518 BCE
15

• Symbolism of the Pillar of Ashoka, the National
  Emblem of India.
• The Ashoka Chakra (wheel) is on the flag of India
• Originally on top of the pillar at Sarnath which
  was desecrated by invading Moslems, the capital
  is now at the
• Sarnath Museum.

16

• Lauriya Nandangarh, edict pillar erected by
  Ashoka,
• Mauryan, c. 242. BCE
• photo by Sir Benjamin Simpson, c.1860's

17

• Torso of a Tirthankara from Lohanipur,
• Mauryan, 3rd C. BCE.
• Buff Sandstone, 26-3/8 H.
• Patna Museum
• Compare with Harappan torso.
• Note persistence of great plasticity of form and
  the breath of prana in the belly.

18

• Yakshi ( pl. Yakshini) from Didarganj. Also known
  as Chauri bearer.
• Probably late Mauryan, c. 200 BCE. Chunar stone,
  54 H.
• Patna Museum.

19

• (above) Yaksha from Parkham, Mauryan or Shunga,
  2nd. C. BCE. Sandstone, 8 7 1/2H
• Archaeological Museum, Mathura
• lacks the sophisication of
• (right) Yaksha from Patna, probably late Mauryan,
  c. 200 BCE. Chunar sandstone. 55 H.
• National Museum, New Delhi

20

• Siddhartha Gautama , c. 563 BCE, Nepal. The
  Buddha
• The Four Noble Truths
• Life means suffering
• The origin of suffering is attachment
• The cessation of suffering is attainable
• The path to the cessation of suffering

21
The Eightfold Path 1. Right View Wisdom 2. Right
Intention 3. Right Speech Ethical Conduct 4.
Right Action 5. Right Livelihood 6. Right
Effort Mental Development 7. Right Mindfulness 8.
Right Concentration
22
Lomas Rishi cave, Barabar Hills, Mauryan, 3rd C.
BCE. Commissioned by Ashoka as a gesture of
religious piety and tolerance, the chamber
duplicated wood and thatch construction. These
caves served as retreats for Ajivika ascetics
during monsoon season. Ajivika was an ancient
philosophical and ascetic movement of the Indian
subcontinent. The Ajivikas were contemporaries of
the early Buddhists and historical Jains the
movement may have preceded both of these groups.
23

• Bhaja Caves, chaitya hall and vihara c. 180 BCE.
  All carved in stone to replicate awoden structure.

24
During the Maurya dynasty three fundamental
Buddhist architectural forms develop the stupa,
the vihara, the chaitya-hall.

• We saw that the Ashoka pillars
• memorialized the Buddha by incorporating
• elements of the earlier Indian Vedic beliefs
  about
• the World Mountain, Chakravartin and sun
• worship.

25

• ElevationGreat Stupa at Sanchi

26
(No Transcript)
27

• Plan and elevation, Great Stupa at Sanchi.
• The outline of the building is a perfect circle,
  the Buddhists ideal shape.
• The elevation is the shape of the Buddha seated.
• The stupa was designed as a mandala, or cosmic
  diagram.
• The square at the center refers to the harmika on
  the roof
• the small circle inside the square is the axis
  mundi supporting the chattra
• or umbrella.
• The dark outer circle is the vedika, railing,
• the four rectangular attachments are the toranas,
  gates, oriented
• to the cardinal points of the compass which
  reinforces the identification
• of the stupa with the cosmos.
• The cosmology
• A square base or foundation corresponding to
  earth. ??
• Anda, corresponding to water. ??
• The harmika, in the shape of a stone fence,
  corresponding to fire.
• The axis mundi corresponding to air or wind
• The chattra, corresponding to the void, or space.
  ?

28
Great Stupa, Sanchi, India, third century BCE to
first century CE (View from the east).The
original builder was Emperor Ashoka Maurya, 273 -
236 BCE. Restored 1919.
29
Great Stupa at Sanchi, Eastern gateway
30

• Sanchi, Great Stupa, inner face of north
  gate/torana. Andhra, late 1st - early 2nd c. CE.
• Sandstone, total height of gate is 34
• See www.bergerfoundation.ch for more views

31

• Detail of Northern Gate Great Stupa at Sanchi
• Temptation of Mara

32
(No Transcript)
33
Yakshi, detail of eastern gateway, Great Stupa,
Sanchi, India,mid first century BCE to early
first century CE.Shalabhanjika - yakshi who
raises her arm to touch the shal tree or stands
beneath a tree, in tribhanga pose. Symbol of
fertility
34
Bharhut Stupa, 2nd C. BCE railing, vedika .
Medallions and figure flatly carved with aniconic
Buddhist symbols.
35
Dream of Queen Maya. Pillar medallion on stupa
railing. 19 H. Her dream of a white elephant
presages the birth of the Buddha.
36

• King Vidudabha visiting the Buddha, (Great
  miracle of Sravasti) from the Bharhut stupa.
  Shunga, 2nd c. BCE. Red sandstone, 18-7/8 H.
  Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
• Note the mobius strip flatness of figures.
  Buddha demonstrated his supernatural powers for
  the purpose of silencing certain believers of
  other faiths who proclaimed that the Buddha was
  incapable of performing supernatural miracles.

37
The remains of the Bharhut stupa, torana and
vedika are no longer in situ the stupa had been
despoiled, and the remaining stone fragments have
been removed and are now displayed in the Indian
Museum in Calcutta.Mithuna Couple
38
Images from north gate-post of Bharhat stupa,
yakshi Chandra and yaksha Kubera, Shunga Dynasty,
2nd C. BCE. Red sandstone about 7 H. Early
examples of iconic motifs that matured later.
Somewhat flat carving.The yakshi is intertwined
with the tree, presenting the early Indic view of
the interrelatedness of the whole of creation.
Her touch makes the tree blossom and bear fruit.
39
Interior (left), section (top right), and plan
(bottom right) of chaitya hall, Karle, India, ca.
100 CE.Rock cut, apsidal plan, lion headed
capitals
40
Note the Ashokan column to the right of the
entrance
41

• Karli, mithuna couple near the entrance to the
  chaitya hall, Andhra, late 1st early 2nd c. CE

42

• Four scenes related to Buddha's birth a dream
  precedes Buddha's birth. From the Great Stupa at
  Amaravati, 1st century B.C. to 1st century A.D.
• His mother Maya seen sleeping (top right corner)
  at Lumbini under the Sal tree she bears Buddha.
• Four Lokapalas, or the Guardians of four
  directions appear with a silk sheet to take
  Buddha on it (lower right corner)
• seven kings assemble and pay homage to Buddha's
  mother (top left corner) and after Buddha's
  birth,
• his mother Maya offers the child to Yaksha Sakya
  Vardhana, the deity of Sakya clan (lower left
  corner)