Maharashtra HSC History of Art flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Bhimbetka rock shelters

Prehistoric painted sandstone shelters in Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, showing successive phases from Upper Palaeolithic geometrics to historic hunting and dance scenes in red, white, and green pigments.

Pashupati seal

Steatite Indus seal from Mohenjodaro depicting a seated three-faced figure with a horned headdress, surrounded by animals; often interpreted as a proto-Shiva or yogic deity.

Lomas Rishi facade

Mauryan-period rock-cut entrance at Barabar, Bihar, carved to imitate a wooden chaitya hall with a barrel-vaulted arch and latticework, marking the start of Indian rock-cut architecture.

Mathura school Buddha

Kushana-period Buddha image in mottled red sandstone with shaven head, bun-shaped ushnisha, abhaya hand, and incised drapery lines; an indigenous Indian type rather than Greco-Roman.

Sanchi Great Stupa

Ashokan stupa enlarged under the Satavahanas, with hemispherical anda, harmika, chhatravali, circumambulatory path, and four carved toranas narrating Jataka stories and lotus motifs.

Karla chaitya hall

Satavahana rock-cut Buddhist prayer hall near Pune with an apsidal plan, columns, stupa at the apse, and a large horseshoe sun window; the largest and best-preserved chaitya in India.

Nagara and Dravida styles

Nagara temples have curvilinear shikharas with amalaka and kalasha in the north; Dravida temples have tiered pyramidal vimanas, gopurams, and enclosed prakara courtyards in the south.

Kailasa temple Ellora

Monolithic Rashtrakuta rock-cut temple (cave 16) excavated top-down from a single basalt cliff, with a Dravida vimana, gopuram, and sculpted panels of Shiva.

Chola Nataraja bronze

Lost-wax cast image of Shiva as lord of dance in chatura-tandava within a flame aureole, with drum and fire in the upper hands and Apasmara crushed beneath one foot.

Sultanganj Buddha

Large Gupta-period bronze Buddha from Bihar, about 2.3 metres tall, showing smooth modelling, transparent drapery, and the abhaya gesture; a landmark of Indian metal casting.

Dhokra casting

Non-ferrous lost-wax metal casting practised in Bastar, Bengal, and Odisha, using a clay core, wax model, and clay mould; produces tribal figurines, animals, and ornaments.

Ajanta Padmapani mural

Gupta-Vakataka fresco-secco painting in Ajanta cave 1 showing Bodhisattva Padmapani with a lotus, downcast eyes, and jewelled crown; a masterpiece of Indian classical mural painting.

Basohli miniature painting

Pahari school from Jammu with intense flat colour, large expressive eyes, beetle-wing green accents, and bold architecture; known for Rasamanjari and Ragamala illustrations.

Bengal School wash technique

Abanindranath Tagore's nationalist revival style using translucent watercolour washes, muted tones, and Mughal-Rajput subjects, reacting against Western academic realism.

Madhubani painting

Mithila folk tradition from Bihar using double outlines, natural dyes, and dense patterns of fish, lotus, and deities on mud walls or paper, traditionally by women.

Patola double ikat

Patan, Gujarat silk textile in which both warp and weft threads are resist-dyed before weaving, producing identical reversible patterns of elephants, parrots, and geometric motifs.

Kundan and meenakari

Jaipur jewellery techniques: kundan sets uncut stones in gold foil without claws; meenakari fuses coloured enamel into engraved gold channels on the reverse or borders.

Bidri ware

Karnataka metalcraft from Bidar using a zinc-copper alloy inlaid with silver, then blackened with soil paste so the silver stands out against a dark ground.

Phulkari embroidery

Punjabi darning-stitch embroidery on hand-spun khaddar cloth, with floss silk threads forming geometric and floral patterns, traditionally part of a bride's trousseau.

Lascaux cave paintings

Upper Palaeolithic paintings in Dordogne, France, of aurochs, horses, and deer in ochre and charcoal, using natural rock contours and overlapping figures without ground lines.

Egyptian composite view

Convention in Egyptian relief and painting showing head in profile, eye frontal, shoulders frontal, and legs in profile, with hierarchical scale for important figures.

Greek contrapposto

Classical Greek sculptural stance in which weight rests on one leg, shifting hips and shoulders in opposing curves to create naturalistic balance and relaxed movement.

Roman Pantheon dome

Hadrianic temple in Rome with a coffered concrete dome and central oculus, its height equal to its diameter, demonstrating Roman mastery of vaulting and interior space.

Gothic rib vault

Medieval structural system of intersecting stone ribs carrying ceiling webbing, combined with pointed arches and flying buttresses to allow tall walls and large stained-glass windows.

Baroque tenebrism

Dramatic painting technique associated with Caravaggio using deep shadow and a single strong light source to spotlight figures and heighten emotional and theatrical impact.

Cubism

Early twentieth-century movement led by Picasso and Braque that fractures objects into multiple viewpoints and reassembles them in flat, geometric, often monochrome planes.

Linear perspective

Renaissance system using a horizon line and vanishing point(s) so parallel lines converge, creating the illusion of three-dimensional depth on a flat picture surface.

Chiaroscuro

Italian term for the use of strong contrasts of light and dark to model three-dimensional form, create volume, and direct attention within a composition.

Rasa theory

Bharata's aesthetic doctrine that emotional states (bhavas) evoked through determinants, consequents, and transitory feelings produce nine rasas, the savoured aesthetic emotions of drama and art.

Shadanga six limbs

Canonical six requirements of Indian painting: roopabheda (form distinction), pramana (proportion), bhava (expression), lavanya (grace), sadrishya (resemblance), and varnikabhanga (colour application).

Buddha bhumisparsha mudra

Earth-touching gesture with the right hand reaching down, recalling the moment of enlightenment when the Buddha called the earth to witness his defeat of Mara.

Sanchi torana and triumphal arch

Comparative pair: both are monumental gateways with carved narrative reliefs, but Sanchi's toranas are Buddhist devotional entries while Roman arches commemorate military and civic triumph.