Elephant composite.In this lively little painting, the artist has portrayed India's most beloved animal, the elephant, in a highly imaginative way. The creature seems to be made up of the entire natural and supernatural animal kingdom. Mounted by a divine rider, this elephant charges across the page chasing a similarly composed, evil-looking figure. Such interactions between the forces of good and evil are a common motif in Hindu literature and art. The rider atop the elephant figure carries an ankusa, or elephant goad, an instrument used to drive and direct the animal. The rider can be identified as a divine being by his crown, which is tipped with three lotus blossoms. The lotus flower has long been associated with divinity in Hindu and Buddhist art Buddhist art originated on the Indian subcontinent following the historical life of Gautama Buddha, 6th to 5th century BCE, and thereafter evolved by contact with other cultures as it spread throughout Asia and the world. . The Asian lotus grows in still pools and swamps, and sends up a shoot that blossoms above the murky water, an apt metaphor for divine life blossoming above the ordinary earth. The nimbus nimbus, in art nimbus (nĭm`bəs), in art, the luminous disk or circle or other indication of light around the head of a sacred personage. , or circle of light, visible around the rider's face is another mark of his heavenly nature. Within the contours of the elephant figure, real and mythical animals engage in a chaotic tumble. Several lion-like beasts seem to be nibbling nibbling Nutrition The consumption of multiple–up to 17–'mini-meals' per day, as opposed to the usual 3 meals/day. Cf Bingeing, Gorging. on other animals. Green, sharp-toothed dragons chew and gnaw at Verb 1. gnaw at - become ground down or deteriorate; "Her confidence eroded" eat at, erode, gnaw, wear away decay, dilapidate, crumble - fall into decay or ruin; "The unoccupied house started to decay" each other. Two stags lock horns on the elephant's flank. Tiny rabbits make up the beast's feet. If we can overcome the sensation that they may be crushed by the weight of the creature, we can enjoy the artist's humor as these swift little animals guide the gait of the lumbering beast. Elephants in Indian Art The vast scope of the art of India intertwines with the cultural history, religions and philosophies which place art production and patronage in social and cultural contexts. Elephants have been prominently featured in Indian art from the earliest times. On seals excavated from Indus Valley civilization Indus valley civilization, ancient civilization that flourished from about 2500 B.C. to about 1500 B.C. in the valley of the Indus River and its tributaries, in the northwestern portion of the Indian subcontinent, i.e., present-day Pakistan. sites, elephant imagery is common and seems already to have an auspicious aus·pi·cious adj. 1. Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious: an auspicious time to ask for a raise in salary. See Synonyms at favorable. 2. Marked by success; prosperous. meaning. There are murals showing elephants frolicking in pools of water on the rock-cut monasteries at Ajanta, circa AD 475. Elephants often appear lined up in rows at the base of temple walls, as if supporting the structure. They adorn entrances to domestic buildings, and are carved in the legs and backs of chairs and thrones of kings. The animal's shape, temperament, and strength have all contributed to its symbolic interpretations. There are many different names for the elephant in the ancient Sanskrit language Sanskrit language Old Indo-Aryan language, the classical literary language of Hinduism. The most ancient form is Vedic, attested in its earliest form in parts of the Rig Veda, dating from the late 2nd millennium BC. . Among them is the word naga, which means both mountain and snake, a good description of the huge body and amazing trunk of the creature. The elephant is associated with clouds, probably due to its round, gray shape and the way elephants spray water from their trunks like raindrops. As clouds, they are symbolic of heaven, rainfall, the fertility of crops, and prosperity in general. They are also symbols for the four cardinal directions. RELATED ARTICLE: For Comparison Probably the most famous depiction of an elephant in Indian art is the elephant-headed god Ganesha. Universally popular as the god of auspiciousness and good fortune, images of Ganesha are found throughout Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain art. Ganesha's composite form incorporates the head of an elephant, the body of a boy, usually four arms, and a large belly. He can be thought of as the union of heaven, represented by his divine body born of the gods, and earth, represented by his elephant head. Right. Indian, Madhya Tradesh or Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (  `tär prä`dĭsh), state (2001 provisional pop. 166,052,859), 92,804 sq mi (240,363 sq km), N central India. The capital is Lucknow. Image of Ganesha
Dancing tenth century. Sandstone. New Members Fund. Photograph by
Graydon Wood, 1993. Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia Museum of Art, established in 1875, chartered in 1876. When the city of Philadelphia planned to erect a building to house the Centennial Exposition of 1876, provision was made to keep the building permanently occupied; the Pennsylvania Museum and School . ('71-154-1)
RELATED ARTICLE: Indian Miniature Painting miniature painting [Ital.,=artwork, especially manuscript initial letters, done with the red lead pigment minium; the word originally had no implication as to size]. The depiction of elephants in Indian art was given new impetus when Muslim Mughal rulers conquered northern India in the mid-1500s. The greatest ruler was Akbar, who ruled ai1 of northern and central India from 1556-1605. Though illiterate, Akbar was a great patron of literature and the arts. He brought from Persia two master painters who introduced native Hindu court painters to the Persian miniature painting tradition. Akbar had at one time more than 1,000 painters at his court at Agra, and amassed a library of 24,000 volumes. In addition to supporting the arts of philosophy, painting, and poetry, Akbar was a fearsome and successful general, and he had a great love for elephants. One hundred and one elephants were set aside for his personal use, and an enormous entourage was employed for the stabling, feeding, and exercising of the beasts. Akbar was a great connoisseur and rider of elephants. Because his influence on Indian painting was so strong, elephants, including, of course, portraits of his own, became increasingly popular in Mughal style miniature painting. Style and Technique The style and technique of this painting is descended from that early Mughal tradition. Akbar's influence spread to outlying Rajput courts which were under his dominion. Rajput rulers also began to commission small paintings bound in volumes for meditation and aesthetic pleasure. They employed local Hindu or Muslim artists, and these local styles began to develop. This painting was made in such a court in Kotah, Rajasthan, around 1760, long after Akbar's reign but while India was still under Mughal rule. The meaning of this composite beast is unclear. Persian miniature paintings from several centuries earlier contain images of composite beasts, and composite elephants were a known subject in Mughal painting Mughal painting Style of painting, confined mainly to book illustrations and miniatures, that evolved in India during the Mughal dynasty (16th–19th centuries). . Perhaps this anonymous artist was simply creating a complex and humorous image to delight his patron. An Animated Scene Some scholars have suggested that these images demonstrate the dominion of the heavenly world over the natural world and, by inference, the dominion of a local ruler over his land and people. If this painting takes its inspiration from an earlier Mughal example, the rider may represent the glorious Mughal dynasty Mughal dynasty or Mogul dynasty Muslim dynasty that ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. The dynasty's rulers, descended from Timur and Genghis Khan, included unusually talented rulers over the course of seven generations, whose reign triumphed over the often warring native Indian Rajput kingdoms and brought peace to North India Introduction Northern India is a geographic and linguistic-cultural region of India which approximately corresponds to the northern region of the Indian subcontinent. for more than 200 years. Whatever the intention, this artist has created an animated scene, which captivates both the eye and the mind of the viewer. RELATED ARTICLE: Activities Elementary Create a wall-sized group collage. In each painting of a composite elephant in Indian art, the animals, humans, or beasts that fill the form are unique creations and combinations. Using an opaque projector opaque projector n. A projector used to view images of nontransparent materials, such as printed sheets or drawings. , project the elephant image onto a large, wall-size piece of paper, and trace its outline. If no projector is available, the art teacher could draw a nearly life-size outline of an elephant. Let each student create her or his own creature to place within the elephant form. Let the students arrange the creatures on the paper, deciding about overlapping areas, superimposed su·per·im·pose tr.v. su·per·im·posed, su·per·im·pos·ing, su·per·im·pos·es 1. To lay or place (something) on or over something else. 2. creatures, etc. Middle Composite faces. Show the students the composite elephant. If available, also show a composite face by Arcimboldo. Bring in flowers, leaves, fruits, and vegetables that have all sorts of interesting shapes, and discuss how students can design an animal using botanical forms. Make lists of plant forms that could be the different parts of the animal. Then, have the students sketch each flower, leaf, fruit, and vegetable. The final product can be a drawing, painting, a collage made from the sketches, or a work in clay Secondary Design a composite figure from an imaginary ancient culture. Creatures composed of a variety of animal and human parts are found in the art of many ancient cultures. The Greeks had the winged horse, Pegasus. The Egyptians had Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the dead, and the sphinx sphinx (sfĭngks), mythical beast of ancient Egypt, frequently symbolizing the pharaoh as an incarnation of the sun god Ra. The sphinx was represented in sculpture usually in a recumbent position with the head of a man and the body of a lion, . Have the students look through books on ancient cultures for other beasts and read about their symbolic meanings. Then, have each student design a composite beast to be deity of an imaginary ancient culture. The final piece may be two- or three-dimensional, and should include a paragraph about their imaginary composite deity and what its role was for the ancient society. Resources Kramrisch, Stella. Painted Delight: Indian Paintings from Philadelphia Collections. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1986. Pal, Pratapaditya. Elephants and Ivories in South Asia This article is about the geopolitical region in Asia. For geophysical treatments, see Indian subcontinent. South Asia, also known as Southern Asia . Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. : Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, also known as LACMA, is the official and world-renowned art museum of the County of Los Angeles, California, located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. , 1981. Patnaik, Naveen. A Second Paradise: Indian Courtly Life, 1590-1947. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1985. |
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