Aryan Books

ART AND ICON: Essays on Early Indian Art

By :- Devangana Desai

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Type: English

Pages: xxvi+310

ISBN-13: 978-81-7305-438-9

Place: New Delhi

Edition: 1st

Publisher: ARYAN BOOKS INTERNATIONAL

Size: 21cm x 27cm

Product Year: 2013

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The author?s love for ancient Indian art and several years of intensive research are reflected in the essays included in this book. The essays cover a wide spectrum, from the sensuous to the sublime, from an analysis of narrative Ramayana sculptures, to a discussion of the relevance of Tantrism to erotic temple sculpture, to a study of ancient terracottas in a socio-cultural context. Art and Icon brings together for the first time 16 selected essays from the 90 that Dr. Devangana Desai has written over a period of 35 years, many of which are not easily accessible. These have been edited and updated with new material. The essays are divided into six sections: i) Approaches to Art, ii) Terracotta Art, iii) Iconography, iv) Iconology and Meaning in Art, v) Art and Eroticism, and vi) Narrative Art. Icons and images, sacred objects of veneration, are generally guided by elaborate rules and conventions detailing their size, sitting or standing postures and hand gestures. Artists have more flexibility when depicting non-iconic subjects. However, the line between art and icon is rather thin as is evident in some magnificent images published in this book. The author reveals the interrelationships and interactions between various fields of art ? sculpture, dance and narration of stories ? as can be noticed particularly in the articles on the dancing Ganesa, the auspicious motifs of salabhanjika (woman-and-tree) and surasundari (celestial nymph), and the figures in the narrative sculptural panels. The article ?The Temple as an Ordered Whole ? The Iconic Scheme at Khajuraho? is a significant contribution to an iconological study of temple art. This well-illustrated book will be valuable to scholars as well as students of Indian art and will also appeal to general readers.

Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations xiii List of Illustrations xv Credits for Illustrations xxi Introduction xxiii I. Approaches to Art 1. Social Dimensions of Art in Early India 1 2. Textual Sources in the Study of Temple Art 34 II. Terracotta Art 3. Ancient Indian Terracottas in their Social Context 50 (c. 600 BCE?CE 600) 4. Goddesses in Clay ? The Ritual Art of the Indian People 76 III. Iconography 5. Dancing Ganesa 88 6. Mother Goddess and Her Partner 108 7. A Remarkable Kushana Image-Linga from Mathura 114 8. Bronzes from Sopara ? Seven Buddhas and Maitreya 124 IV. Iconology and Meaning in Art 9. The Temple as an Ordered Whole ? The Iconic Scheme 134 at Khajuraho 10. Salabhanjika and Surasundari ? Auspicious Figures in Art 154 11. The Symbolism of Kurma in Art and Myth 181 V. Art and Eroticism 12. Erotic Literature 195 13. Tantrism and Erotic Temple Sculpture 207 14. Beyond the Erotic at Khajuraho 232 VI. Narrative Art 15. The Ramayana Episode Vali-vadha in Indian Sculpture 247 (up to CE 1300) 16. Sveta-dvipa Devotees of Narayana ? A Unique Panel 269 at Khajuraho Glossary 277 Bibliography 285 Index 297

Dr. Devangana Desai, art historian, is author of Khajuraho ? Monumental Legacy, 2000 (13th impression, 2011), The Religious Imagery of Khajuraho, 1996, Erotic Sculpture of India ? A Socio-Cultural Study, (second ed.) 1985, and over 90 papers on various aspects of ancient Indian art. She has participated in many national and international seminars and conferences. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Bombay in 1970. Dr. Desai is recipient of the prestigious Dadabhai Naoroji Memorial Prize, the Silver Medal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, and Homi Bhabha Fellowship. Dr. Desai is Vice-President of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai. She was the Hon. Editor of its Journal (1992-2009). She was Chairperson of the Museum Society of Bombay for nine years, from 1983 to 1992. She was Consultant on a Project on the Museum Images of Khajuraho, Franco-Indian Research, Mumbai. She is a Trustee of the Sarabhai Foundation, Calico Museum, Ahmedabad. Dr. Desai is Editor of the Monumental Legacy Series on the World Heritage Sites in India, Oxford University Press. She is Hon. Professor, Ananthacharya Indological Research Institute, University of Mumbai.

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