QUIZ – 2020: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 10 July 2020 – Art and Culture

Solution: c)

We have no evidences of lower Paleolithic people producing art, it is only during Upper Paleolithic that the production of art begins.

The paintings can be divided into three categories: human beings, animals and geometric patterns.

The largest number of paintings belongs to Mesolithic age.

Hunting scenes predominate in Mesolithic paintings.

Solution: b)

The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), or Harappan Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) mainly in the north-western regions of South Asia, extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. Along with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early cradles of civilisations of the Old World, and of the three, the most widespread.

Solution: d)

The Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) is an Iron Age culture of the western Gangetic plain and the Ghaggar-Hakra valley, lasting from roughly 1200 BCE to 600 BCE.

It is a successor of the Black and red ware culture (BRW) within this region, and contemporary with the continuation of the BRW culture in the eastern Gangetic plain and Central India.

Characterized by a style of fine, grey pottery painted with geometric patterns in black, the PGW culture is associated with village and town settlements, domesticated horses, ivory-working, and the advent of iron metallurgy.

The PGW Culture probably corresponds to the middle and late Vedic period, i.e., the Kuru-Panchala kingdom, the first large state in South Asia after the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization.

It is succeeded by Northern Black Polished Ware from c. 700-500 BCE, associated with the rise of the great mahajanapada states and of the Magadha Empire.

Solution: c)

The Ajanta Caves are approximately 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state of India. The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art.

The paintings of Cave 1 cover the walls and the ceilings. The two most famous individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-life-size figures of the protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle.

The sculptures in Cave 26 are elaborate and more intricate. The major artworks include the Mahaparinirvana of Buddha (reclining Buddha) on the wall, followed by the legend called the “Temptations by Mara”. The Mahaparinirvana of the Buddha is when he finally achieves release from the mortal world.

Statement 2 and 4:  These are found in Elephanta caves. Described as a “masterpiece of Gupta-Chalukyan art”, the most important sculpture in the Elephanta caves is the Trimurti. The carved panel facing this one is a two-level depiction of Ravana lifting Kailash.

Solution: a)

Emperor Akbar was keenly interested in the art of painting and architecture.

The Mughal style is marked by supple naturalism based on close observation of nature and fine and delicate drawing. It is of a high aesthetic merit. It is primarily aristocratic and secular.