Miniature Painting PDF

Unit -1 MINIATURE PAINTING HISTORY OF MNIATURE PAINTING Any painting done insmallsize, in any medium and calleda Miniature on any surface is Painting.Earlier, these paintingswe...

Unit -1 MINIATURE PAINTING HISTORY OF MNIATURE PAINTING Any painting done insmallsize, in any medium and calleda Miniature on any surface is Painting.Earlier, these paintingswere made on palm-leaf a pieceof cloth, (Tar-Patra/Bhojpatra), a pieceof leather handmade paper.The orivoryand lateron MiniaturePainting ismostly Itmay be a portrait, presentedwithminutedetails. an illustration of a storyor a scene from medievalperiodonwards,we dailylife.From finda strongtradition of different schoolsof painting. miniature paintingin They are: (1)The PalaSchool (8th to 12thCentury)or EasternSchool. (2)The Western IndianSchool (10thto 16th Century)or Jain School of Art. (3)Other Isolated styles(1500 to 1550 A.D.). (4)The Mughal and Deccan School of Art (1560 to 1850 A.D.). (5)Rajputand PahariSchoolof Artor Rajasthani and Pahari School of Art (16thto 19thCentury A.D.). PALASCHOOL/EASTERN SCHOOL OF BENGAL, BIHAR AND ORISSA (750 A.D.to the middle of the 12th century): Ellora and Ajanta, the great centresof Buddhistlearning and artsaw the greatestmasterpiecesof art as murals and frescoes. Afterthis,the Buddhist monasteries (mahaviharas) of Nalanda,Vikramsila and Somarupa witnesseda great phase of Buddhism and Buddhist art in India.A largenumber of manuscriptson palm-leavesrelating to Buddhist themes were writtenand illustrated with images of Buddhistdeitiesunder the patronage of the ruling Palakings at these centres. The Palapainting got itsname afterthe kingsDharam Paland Dev Pal whiletheirchiefartistswere Dhiman and hisson Itresembles the Vittapal. idealforms of contemporarybronze and stone sculptures of Palaand Sena, and reflectssome feelings of the classicalart of Ajanta.Paintings are characterisedby mostlysava-chasma' faces,curvyblack outlines, brightcolours, Simple compositionsand graceful figures. 1-one and one-fourth eye visible 15=  palm-leaf manuscriptillustrated WESTERN SCH00L OR JAINSCHOOL of fine example of a A typicalBuddhist (theperfection wisdon ILaterhalfof the 10"century to the 16h century): Pala styleis AstasahasrikaPrajnaparamita of Mahayana on Buddhisn The motivating a manuscript illustrations six forceforthe artistic inWestern Indiawas Jainism activity personified by a female deity), has folio manuscript of two thatwas patronised by Kings of Chalukya Dynasty who ruledGujarat, thousandlines. The outside the writtenineight insideand woodey on the narts of Rajasthan and Malwa. The oldestpaintings of thísschoolare of and also inthe middlefor - painting, (of size22V½ x 2Vh each) thereata Tirthankaras Parsvanath, Neminath and Rishabhnath. leaving space through two hole ere Twenty Tirthankaras done after threadrunning cOvers. Writing was A painted in these manuscriptswhich are availablein the Jain it was sentto paintersforillustrations. used to tiethem together. Sincethe, libraries (bhandaras) found at many placesin Western India. folios was on them of the resulting paste was smeared made on both sides and sandal The illustrations on these manuscriptsare in a unique styleof strong were sacred, vermillion years. of the their damage over the destruction Buddhi distortion. One findsin thisstylean exaggerationof certainphysicaltraits end afterthe The Pala art came to a sudden in the first h alf of the 13 forinstance - eyes, breasts and hips are enlarged.Figuresare flat with Muslimn invaders and fled to Nepal, whi eye protruding intospace. This is an at the hands of angularity of features and the further monasteries monks and artistsescaped Two artof primitive vitality, vigorous l ine and forcefulcolours. of the there. examples century. Some art traditions of the existing From about 1100 to 1400 A.D., helpedinstrengthening givenbelow : palm-leaf was used forthe manuscripts are and Jateron paper was introducedforthe purpose.Two very illustrations popular,influential manuscript and moralizing Jaintextsthat were repeatedlywrittenand illustrated with paintings are : 1. The Kalpasutra (The Book of Ritual) containsbiographies of the four most significant Jinas, including Mahavira 2 The Kalakacharya-Katha, Story of the Teacher Kalaka. Other textsare UttaradhyanaSutraand SangrahiniSutraamnong others. Lotus Mamaki with Vajra on Prajnaparamita Manuscript Astasahasrika PalaSchool,late11thc. ma L-The birthof Mahavira. R -Women of the royalhousehold - Kalpasutramanuscript Western India celebratingthe sixthnight after the birth Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Manuscript - Late 15th early16th century of Mahavira. PalaSchool,carly 2th c.,West Bengal/Bangladesh 1 Opaque watercolouron paper Kalpasutramanuscript Western India - Late 15th early16th century Opaque watercolouron paper 17 16 SCHOOLS OF CENTRAL INDIA: The Kalpa-Sutraillustrationsof Mandu (inMalwa regionof Madh.. Pradesh)mark the initial phase of the artincentralInd miniature/manuscript as earlyas the 1lth-12th century. Krishna stealing butterand otherKrishnalila 1500-25 A.D., Scenes, Malwa, Jainmonk preachingto a king, Jain style,circa NationalMuseum, New Delhi circa1680 AD. NationalMuseum, New Delhi. BeinginCentralIndia, Mandu was influenced by artfrom all directions. Jainmanuscripts of Gujarat,Muslim elementsof Jaunpurand Awadh from the east,Rajputartof the North and Deccan stylefrom the south. Inthe 15h century Mandu was ruledby Khaljidynasty under which we see the Persianinfluence inimat-Nama (Bookof delicacies). Laterwhen itwa ruledby SultanBaz Bahadur,Ragmala (Necklaceof musicalnodes)series Laur chanda and Chaurpanchshikhaseriesbecame subjectsdue to the rulers' inclination forsecular and romanticthemes. Thus,artof Central India startedfrom primaryinfluence of Gujaratbutdevelopedwithwide ranging influences. Largeprotrudingeyes,angular faces,men and women of moderat: height,plentyof motifsand largeamount of goldcharacterise these Kalpa Sutrapaintings. In Malwa (M.P.) in CentralIndia, the art of miniaturepainting waa pioneeredatDhar,Ujain, Nustatgarhand NarsyangSaharinthe 16thcentury, The subjectswere :Amaru Shataka,Ragamala,Ramayana, Bhagavata-Purana Rama & Golden Deer Maricha,Malwa, circa 1634-40A.D., renowned love-lores, etc.The main featureistheirfrequentnarrativedepiction NationalMuseum, New Delhi of themes insmallcompartmentson a smallarea.They are alsoexcellent in When muslim rulers took over the centralregion,Artists execution,colour-scheme, accuracy of detailsand elaboration.Brightbasi: took shelter in Mewar in Rajasthanwhere great colours,blendoffolkelements and highlycharged faces are theotherfeatures miniature artdeveloped separately. Thus, CentralSchoolbecame the fountainheadforlater ofMalwa miniatures. Miniature schoolsof India. 18 19