Archaeology

CIRO LO MUZIO

In consistency with the educational purposes of the whole teaching course, aim of the teaching unit is to give students knowledge and comprehension skills in the field of ARCHAEOLOGY OF INDIA AND CENTRAL ASIA that complete and/or reinforce those acquired in the first grade of studies. Moreover, it will make the students able to approach orginal themes in a research context, making more complex judgments, communicating knowledge and its process, and studying the subject in an independent and self-educational way.

The aim of the course is to provide detailed knowledge of the material culture and artistic expression of a particular period in the archaeology of India and Central Asia. Studies aim at providing a critical understanding of the themes and problems discussed, through an extensive analysis of materials and a reconstruction of the history of the studies.

By the end of the course, students will have developed a solid ability to identify, describe, and date architectural, sculptural, and pictorial works, as well as their respective geographical, cultural, and chronological contexts. They will be able to interpret artefacts and works of art critically, applying methodologies of stylistic, iconographic, and iconological analysis. Students will also be able to situate works or artistic phenomena within their broader systems of historical, political, and religious relationships, and to identify the role of patronage and relevant sources.

Furthermore, the course will ensure full command of the technical vocabulary required for the scholarly description of topics related to the subject area or of individual works. Students will also have developed a comparative approach enabling them to recognise connections and continuities across different artistic centres or stylistic movements.

Although students who have already taken examinations in Indian and/or Central Asian archaeology and art history may be at an advantage, the introductory lectures will provide all the essential foundations necessary to facilitate an understanding of the specific topics addressed in the course.

PAINTING IN SOUTH ASIA: THEMES, ASPIRATIONS AND FORMS OF EXPRESSION IN RELIGIOUS, COURTLY AND POPULAR CONTEXTS

- Buddhist, Hindu and Jain mural painting (4th–11th centuries CE)

- Buddhist and Jain manuscript painting

- Fifteenth- and sixteenth-century painting traditions of the pre-Mughal period

- An introduction to Mughal painting (16th–17th centuries)

- The Rājpūt courts (16th–18th centuries)

- Folk painting

Buddhist and Jain painting:

S. Huntington, The Art of Ancient India, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, New York – Tokyo 1985, pp. 239-260 (sul
monastero di Ajaṇṭā)
V. Dehejia, “Narrative Modes in Ajanta Cave 17: A Preliminary Study”, South Asian Studies, 7, 1991, pp.
45-57
J. Kim, “Emptiness on Palm Leaf: A Twelfth-century Illustrated Manuscript of the ‘Aṣṭasāhasrikā
Prajñāpāramitā’”, in Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, 82/1-2, 2008, pp. 76-91
J. Guy, “Jain Manuscript Painting”, in P. Pal (ed.), The Peaceful Liberators. Jain Art from India, Los Angeles
1994, pp. 89-99
A. Foucher, “Note sur les fresques de Sigiriya (Ceylan)”, in Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des
Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 40/1, 1896. pp. 21-26
C. Lo Muzio, Note sulla pittura gandharica
Sittanavasal (Sudarshanam), Pudukottai 2012, pp. 1-33

The 15th and 16th centuries:

I. Nardi, “Kṛṣṇa Overturning the Cart: Contextual and Stylistic Analysis of a Folio from the ‘Palam’
Bhāgavatapurāṇa (ca. 1520-1530) in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Collection”, in Aziatische
Kunst 48/1, 2018, pp. 31-41
J. Losty, “Indian Painting from 1500-1575” in M.C. Beach, E. Fischer, and B.N. Goswamy, Masters of
Indian Painting (Artibus Asiae Supplementum), Zurich, 2011, pp. 67-76

Mughal painting:

J. Seyller, “Workshop and Patron in Mughal India. The Freer Rāmāyaṇa and Other Illustrated
Manuscripts of ‘Abd al-Raḥīm” (Artibus Asiae Supplementum) 1999 (solo la prima sezione: ‘The
Formation and Diffusion of the Imperial Mughal Style’, pp. 13-23)
Schede pittura mughal (B.N. Goswamy; L. Parodi; R. Crill)

Rājpūt painting:

V. Desai, “Painting and Politics in Seventeenth-Century North India: Mewar, Bikaner, and the Mughal
Court”, in Art Journal, 49, 4, New Approaches to South Asian Art, 1990, pp. 370-378
V. Dehejia, “The Treatment of Narrative in Jagat Singh's "Rāmāyaṇa": A Preliminary Study”, Artibus
Asiae, 56, 3/4 (1996), pp. 303-324
B.N. Goswamy – E. Fischer, Pahari Masters. Court Painters of Northern India (Estratti: ‘The Pahari Painter’,
‘Early Devi Mahatmya’, ‘Early Rasamanjari’, ‘Pandit Seu of Guler’)

Folk painting:

B. Rossi, From the Ocean of Painting. India’s Popular Paintings, 1589 to the Present, New York – Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1998 (Estratti: ‘Mithila or Madhubani Paintings’, ‘Warli Paintings’,
‘Jadupatua Scroll and Ritual Paintings’, ‘”Paithan” of Chitrakathi Paintings’)

The course will take place in one semester and will consist of frontal lessons, with the constant support of photographic material (maps, plans, detailed pictures of monuments and artworks).

Attendance is not mandatory, but highly recommended.

The assessment of the skills acquired will take place through an oral examination, supported by the analysis of iconographic materials related to the teaching program.

Candidates must demonstrate the ability to frame the various themes analyzed within the relevant theoretical frameworks, showing independent judgment and mastery of the specific terminology of archaeology and art history.

The final grade will be awarded on a 30-point scale, according to the following parameters:

Excellent (28–30 with honors): Comprehensive understanding of the subjects, strong critical thinking skills, fluid delivery, and impeccable use of specialized terminology.

Fair / Good (21–27): Learning is partially based on rote memorization or not fully integrated; language proficiency and logical coherence are satisfactory but inconsistent.

Pass (18–20): Basic preparation showing gaps in content or uncertainties in the use of academic language and argumentation.

Fail (<18): Lack of minimum knowledge requirements, severe educational gaps, and deficiencies in logical and expressive abilities.

• Narrative modes in the paintings of Ajanta.
• Style and use of colour in Jain painting.
• The relationship between text and image in Buddhist manuscript painting.
• The earliest surviving examples of illustrated manuscripts in the Hindu tradition.
• The impact of the Mughal tradition on Hindu court painting.
• The distinctive features of the Jagat Singh Ramayana.
• Different uses of painting in popular narrative traditions.

• Introduction to the course. Presentation of topics based on chronological, religious, and cultural context.


• Mural paintings in the Buddhist monastery of Ajanta. Historical and religious context. Function of painting; patronage and craftsmanship.


• The Ajanta Paintings: Style, Compositional Principles, and Narrative Repertoire.


• Painting in Gandhara. Surviving evidence from the region, and the case of Miran (Xinjiang), as a distant reflection of Gandhara painting.


• Wall painting in the Sigiriya Caves (Sri Lanka). The Jaina paintings of Sittanavasal.


• Painting on manuscripts: materials and techniques. Palm leaf, paper; formats; colors. Painting on Buddhist manuscripts.


• Painting on Jain manuscripts.


• The 15th and 16th centuries. painted anoscripts from the era of the Sultanates: Shahnama and Ni'matnama. Works of indigenous tradition (Chaurapanchashika); the Puranic manuscripts (Bhagavata Purana).


• Candayana and Devimahatmya Pahari. Mughal Painting: Historical Notions; The Persian Component in Mughal Painting. The Role of Humayun. Painting in the Time of Akbar: The Question of the Tutinama.


• Mughal painting: the Western component. Naturalism; physiognomic portraits; elements of landscape perspective. The thematic repertoire in Jahangir's painting.


• Rajput courts: political and social framework. On the dialectic between Mughal art and Rajput painting. Different examples of contamination, emulation, and rejection (Bikaner, Mewar).


• The Jagat Singh's Ramayana.


• Pahari painting (Panjab Hills), I.


• Pahari painting (Panjab Hills), II.


• Technical aspects of painting on manuscripts


• Folk painting: general information; documented or extant traditions; picture-showmen.


• Mithila painting.


• The folk tradition in Bengal, Odissa and Maharashtra (Warli).


• Rajasthan: the Papuji cycle.


• Summary of the topics covered during the course.