53549 - History of Art of India and Central Asia

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student should have acquired a basic competence on the history and iconography of Hindu art in Nepal and India, and of Buddhist art in India, Nepal and Tibet. S/he will be expected to deal with related topics competently in both oral and written form, also in relation to the basic bibliographic references listed at the end of the course programme. In particular, s/he should acquire the ability to identify, describe, date and contextualize religious art images coming from the cultures and areas taken into consideration.

Course contents

Lessons will start on Wednesday the 15th February 2012.

The course illustrates features of the religious artistic production in the Indian subcontinent, in the Himalayan region and in Tibet through the projection of slides to be commented during a total of 60 hours of lesson for the 12 and 10 credit exams, and 30 hours (corresponding to topics 1-30 of the programme below) for the 6 credit exam.

1-2 Bodhgaya and Sarnath: the places of Shakyamuni's Awakening and first preaching. 3 The stupa of Bharhut and the site of Bhaja. 4 The Buddhist site of Sanchi and the cave temples of Karli. 5-6 The cave temples of Ajanta. 7 The cave temples of Aurangabad and Ellora. 8 Sculpture under the Pala and Sena dynasties. 9 The temples of Khajuraho. 10 Kashmirian sculpture. 11-12 Early monasteries in western Tibet. 13-14 The earliest monasteries in Ladakh and the caves of Dungkar. 15-18 The temples of Alchi. 19-20 The caves at Saspol and the temple of the Guru a Phiyang. 21-23 The Nepal Valley: cult and iconography of Vishnu. 24-25 Cult and iconography of Shiva. 26-28 Cult and iconography of the Goddess and other Hindu deities. 29-30 The stupas of Svayambhu and Bodhnath. 31-32 Buddhist monasteries in the Nepal Valley. 33-34 The earliest Buddhist temples in Tibet. 35-36 The Jokhang in Lhasa. 37-38 The monastery of Samye. 39 The necropolis of Chiongye. 40 The monastery of Dratang. 41 The monasteries of Drigung and Sakya. 42-43 The temples of Kyangpu and Yemar. 44-49 The monastery of Shalu. 50-51 Gyantsé and its castle. 52-54 The monastery of Gyantsé. 55-56 The Great Stupa of Gyantsé. 57-58 Painting in the 20th c.: materials and tecniques. 59-60 Sculpture in the 20th c.: materials and tecniques.

The academic year 2011-2012 is the last one in which the lecturer will hold his course in history of Indian and Central Asian Art prior to his retirement in the autumn of 2012.

Readings/Bibliography

Works of a general character (compulsory reading):

- C. Sivaramamurti, India-(Ceylon-Tibet)-Nepal, Torino, 1984, 2 vols: vol. I, pp. 1-73, 79-105, 117-147, 204-229 (India) and vol. II, pp. 352-460 (Nepal). The section on lndia in vol. I may be replaced with C. Pieruccini, L'Arte Indiana, vol. 22 of Storia dell'Arte Universale, Milano, Corriere della Sera, 2009.

- A. Heller, Tibetan Art, Milano, 1999.

 

Monographic works (one by choice):

- M. Bussagli, L'arte del Gandhara, Torino, 1984;

- A. Chayet, Art et Archéologie du Tibet, Paris, 1994;

- R. Goepper, Alci. Il santuario buddhista del Ladakh. Il Sumtsek, Milano, 1996;

- D. Jackson, A History of Tibetan Painting, Wien, 1996;

- D. & J. Jackson, Tibetan Thangka Painting. Methods & Materials, London, 1984;

- D. Klimburg-Salter, Tabo, a Lamp for the Kingdom, Milano, 1997;

- E. Lo Bue, Wonders of Lo. The Artistic Heritage of Mustang, Mumbai, 2010;

- C. Luczanits, Buddhist Sculpture in Clay, Chicago, 2004;

- F. Ricca, Il tempio oracolare di gNas-chun, Alessandria, 1999;

- F. Ricca & E. Lo Bue, The Great Stupa of Gyantse, London, 1993;

- M. Shepherd Slusser, Nepal Mandala, Princeton, 1982 (students choosing this text are exempted from studying the section on Nepal in Sivaramamurti's volumes);

- G. Tucci, Indo-Tibetica. I. Mc'od rten e ts'a ts'a nel Tibet indiano e occidentale, Roma, 1932 (also available the English version published in India).

 

Reference works:

N. Celli, Buddhismo, Milano, 2006.

Lokesh Chandra, Buddhist Iconography, New Delhi, 1991;

M.-T. de Mallmann, Introduction à l'iconographie du tântrisme bouddhique, Paris, 1975;

G. Tucci, Tibetan Painted Scrolls, Bangkok, 2000, 3 vols.

Teaching methods

The course is aimed at illustrating the cultural history of the regions taken into consideration through the study of some aspects of their art and architecture, documenting the diffusion of the Indian civilization, art and aesthetics in the Himalayan areas and in Tibet through extensive comments on images shown during the lessons. It will deal in particular with salient features of the religious artistic production in the Indian subcontinent, in the Himalayan regions from Nepal to Ladak, and in central, western and southern Tibet through the analysis of Buddhist and Hindu monuments and art works in India and Nepal, and of Buddhist art in geocultural Tibet.

Assessment methods

Candidates must be thoroughly competent in all the texts — or others agreed upon by the teacher —  taken to the exam and be able to identify, date, comment and contextualize any image reproduced therein. Since 12 credits correspond to 300 hours of work, students attending the lessons will have to reckon 255 hours of study (60 hours of 45' lessons correspond to 45 hours of work) and students not attending it will have to reckon 300 hours of study for the preparation to the exam. Candidates will be tested orally on the two compulsory texts and on a monographic work, which may be different from those listed above only if its choice has been accepted by the lecturer. Candidates to the 9 credit exam will be examined on Sivaramamurti's two volumes at the pages indicated under the heading "Testi" (with the possibility of replacing the first volume with Pieruccini's text), on Heller's text and on a monographic volume among those suggested in the list or else on a text previously agreed upon with the lecturer.

Candidates to the 6 credit exam will be examined on Sivaramamurti's two volumes at the pages indicated under the heading "Testi", with the possibility of replacing the first voume with Pieruccini's text and the second volume with a book chosen from the recommended list or else with another text previously agreed upon by the lecturer.

Examinations will be held on at least six dates, falling in the months of March, April, May, June, July and October 2012.

Teaching tools

The course illustrates some features of the religious artistic production in the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia through the projection of about slides to be commented during a total of 30+30 hours of lesson, which may be supplemented with seminars on Indian miniature painting. Students will be tested orally on the compulsory reading.

Links to further information

http://www.lettere.unibo.it/Lettere/Studenti/Orario+lezioni/default.htm

Office hours

See the website of Erberto Lo Bue