abstract: Many religious textual accounts describe provocative women: The Great Whore from the Apocalypse, Saint Mary Magdalene from the New Testament, and the Daughters of Mara from the Buddhist tradition are all accused of fornication or the seduction of men. However, when artists have depicted these subjects, the women are rarely shown transgressing in the ways the texts describe. The Great Whore is often masculinized and shown as the equal of kings, Mary Magdalene assumes divergent attitudes about prostitution in early Renaissance Europe, and the Daughters of Mara are comparable to other Buddhist deities, recognizable only from the surrounding narrative. Therefore, in this inquiry, I seek out the ways that artists have manipulated misogynistic religious narratives and introduced their own fears, concerns, and interpretations. Artistic deviations from the text indicate a sensitivity to cultural values beyond the substance of their roles within the narrative. Both the Great Whore and her virtuous counterpart, the Woman Clothed in the Sun, have agency, and the ways they are shown to use their agency determines their moral status. Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of prostitutes and a reformed sinner, is shown with iconographical markers beyond just prostitution, and reveals the ways in which Renaissance artists conceptualized prostitution. In the last case study, the comparison between the Daughters and the Buddhist savioresses, the Taras, demonstrates that Himalayan artists did not completely subscribe to the textual formulations of women as inherently iniquitous. Ultimately, these works of art divulge not just interpretations of the religious traditions, but attitudes about women in general, and the power they wielded in their respective contexts. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Art History 2020

No description available.

No description available.

<p>This dissertation explores how the Buddhist texts carved on the cliffs of mountains served their patrons’ religious and cultural goals. During the Northern Qi period (550-577 CE), these carved Buddhist sutra texts and Buddha names were prevalent, and were carved directly onto the surfaces of numerous mountains in southwestern Shandong Province. The special focus of this study is on the Buddhist engravings at Mt. Hongding in Dongping, and at Mt. Tie in Zoucheng. Created in approximately 553-564 CE, the carvings at Mt. Hongding stand as the terminus a quo of the history of Buddhist sutras carved into the rocks of the Shandong mountains. The Buddhist carvings at Mt. Hongding served monastic goals. The monk patrons, Seng’an Daoyi, Fahong, and others created the carvings as an integral part of their Buddhist meditation practices. The carvings at Mt. Tie paint a very different picture. At Mt. Tie, a colossal Buddhist sculpture-style carving was created in 579 CE. Sponsored by several Han Chinese patrons, the carving was designed in the form of a gigantic Chinese traditional stele. This study suggests that several Han Chinese local elites proudly displayed their Han Chinese linage by using the gigantic stele form of Buddhist text carving as a means to proclaim Han Chinese cultural and artistic magnificence. To achieve these non-religious goals, they appropriated rhetorical devices often used by the Han elite, such as the stele form, written statements about the excellence of the calligraphy used, and discourse on calligraphy connoisseurship.</p> / Dissertation

<p>Early art in Buddhist cultic sites was characterized by the absence of anthropomorphicimages of the Buddha. The Buddha was instead represented by different signs, like awheel, a tree, a seat and footprints. This study emphasizes the transformation this artunderwent from simple signs to carefully made aniconic compositions representing theBuddha in a narrative context.</p><p>Buddhist aniconic art has been explained by a prohibition against images of theBuddha or by a doctrine that made it inappropriate to depict the body of the Buddha.This study rejects such explanations. Likewise, the practice of different meditationalexercises cannot explain this transformation. Instead, it is important to understand thatearly art at Buddhist cultic sites consisted of simple signs belonging to a shared sacredIndian culture. This art reflected a notion of auspiciousness, fertility and abundance.The formation of Buddhist aniconic art was indicated by the connection of these auspi- cious signs with a narrative tradition about the life and teachings of the Buddha.</p><p>The study emphasizes the importance Sakyamuni Buddha played in the formation ofBuddhist art. The Buddha was interpreted as an expression of auspiciousness, but hewas also connected with a soteriological perspective. Attention is also focused on thefact that the development of Buddhist art and literature was a gradual and mutualprocess. Furthermore, Buddhist aniconic art presaged the making of anthropomorphicimages of the Buddha. It was not an innovation of motive for the Buddhists when theystarted to make anthropomorphic images of the Buddha. He was already there.</p>

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of History

Early art in Buddhist cultic sites was characterized by the absence of anthropomorphicimages of the Buddha. The Buddha was instead represented by different signs, like awheel, a tree, a seat and footprints. This study emphasizes the transformation this artunderwent from simple signs to carefully made aniconic compositions representing theBuddha in a narrative context. Buddhist aniconic art has been explained by a prohibition against images of theBuddha or by a doctrine that made it inappropriate to depict the body of the Buddha.This study rejects such explanations. Likewise, the practice of different meditationalexercises cannot explain this transformation. Instead, it is important to understand thatearly art at Buddhist cultic sites consisted of simple signs belonging to a shared sacredIndian culture. This art reflected a notion of auspiciousness, fertility and abundance.The formation of Buddhist aniconic art was indicated by the connection of these auspi- cious signs with a narrative tradition about the life and teachings of the Buddha. The study emphasizes the importance Sakyamuni Buddha played in the formation ofBuddhist art. The Buddha was interpreted as an expression of auspiciousness, but hewas also connected with a soteriological perspective. Attention is also focused on thefact that the development of Buddhist art and literature was a gradual and mutualprocess. Furthermore, Buddhist aniconic art presaged the making of anthropomorphicimages of the Buddha. It was not an innovation of motive for the Buddhists when theystarted to make anthropomorphic images of the Buddha. He was already there.

L’impression répétée d’une image – sceau – ou d’un stūpa en trois dimensions sur un morceau d’argile est une pratique bouddhique pour obtenir du mérite, dont en témoigne la quantité importante retrouvée en Asie du Sud-Est. Ces objets comportent des images représentant un ou plusieurs dieux et stūpas, parfois accompagnées d’un texte, ou bien un texte seul. Jusqu’à présent, seules des études régionales se sont intéressées à ce sujet et aucune n’a prêté attention aux moules utilisés pour leur production. La présence de moules en terre-cuite et en bronze est attestée entre le VIIème et le XIIIème siècle, ces derniers présentant une iconographie raffinée et une technique élaborée. Nous postulons que leur utilisation était propre à certaines cultures et nous mettons en avant trois groupes de moules en bronze, correspondant aux régions du centre du Myanmar, à la Thaïlande et au Cambodge, ainsi qu’à l’Indonésie occidentale et à la péninsule malaise.Centrée sur le catalogue des moules en bronze, cette étude explore leurs liens avec les objets imprimés sous les angles de la production, de l’archéologie, de l’iconographie et de la stylistique, fournissant ainsi une vue d’ensemble synthétique des sceaux et stūpas. Premièrement, la constitution d’une typologie, à la fois des produits et des outils de reproduction, permet de comprendre quelles techniques étaient utilisées pour leur fabrication, et conduit à distinguer l’existence de différents ateliers et usages. Deuxièmement, le recensement des contextes archéologiques connus clarifie les intentions de la production au-delà de l’obtention de mérite, et questionne la valeur religieuse des moules. Finalement, l’analyse des images examine leurs caractéristiques locales, régionales ou inter-régionales, ainsi que leur degré de correspondance avec le répertoire connu des impressions. La nature petite et mobile des sceaux, stūpas et de leurs moules a permis leur diffusion, mais est aussi probablement responsable de leur disparition, à cause de leur fragilité ou de la réutilisation du métal. Cette étude ne sera donc jamais complète. Toutefois, l’approche transversale de ces témoignages de l’art bouddhique apporte un éclairage nouveau sur les différents liens culturels, politiques et religieux qui prévalaient en Asie du Sud-Est. / The repeated impression of an image or of a three-dimensional stūpa on a piece of clay is a Buddhist practice to obtain merit, well attested in Southeast Asia by the vast amount of seals and stūpas discovered. The images depict a single or several deities and stūpas, sometimes accompanied by a text, or they bear text alone. Until now, only regional studies have focused on these artefacts and none have looked at the moulds used for their production. During the 7th to the 13th century CE, we find evidence of terracotta and bronze moulds, the latter demonstrating a refined iconography and an elaborate technical expertise. We postulate that their use was specific to some cultures and bring forward three groups of bronze moulds, corresponding to the areas of central Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, and western Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula. Centred on the catalogue of the bronze moulds, this study explores their connection to the printed objects through their production, archaeology, iconography and stylistics; thereby, also providing a selective overview of the seals and stūpas. First, the establishment of a typology, both of the products and of the reproduction tools, helps to understand which techniques were resorted to during the manufacture, and lead to distinguish the existence of different workshops and developments. Secondly, the survey of the known archaeological contexts clarifies the intentions of the production beyond merit making, and questions the religious value of the mould. Finally, the analysis of the images examines their local, regional or inter-regional features, and the extent of their match with the repertoire of known imprints. The small and movable nature of the seals, stūpas and their moulds resulted in their diffusion but also most probably in their disappearance because of their fragility or due to the reutilization of the metal. This study will hence never be complete. Nevertheless, the transverse approach to these evidences of Buddhist art sheds new light on the different connections—cultural, political and religious—that prevailed in Southeast Asia.

No description available.

Cette thèse étudie en détail un type particulier de représentation du Bouddha où il est représenté assis sur un trône prééminent, le bhadrapīṭha ou bhadrāsana, dans une posture majestueuse avec les deux jambes pendantes, c’est-à-dire assis en bhadrāsana ou dans l’attitude « de bon augure ». Cette iconographie, étroitement associée à l’imagerie du trône, se retrouve largement représentée dans l’art de l’Asie du Sud, de l’Est et du Sud-Est, et est, en règle générale, intimement liée aux modèles de la royauté, de la fertilité, et même du divin. Plusieurs implications notables ressortent de cet examen iconologique concernant les origines, la diffusion, et le développement de l’art bouddhique dans ces contrées, particulièrement au cours du premier millénaire de notre ère. / This dissertation provides a detailed study of a particular representation of the Buddha, in which he sits on a prominent throne, i.e. a bhadrapīṭha or bhadrāsana, in a majestic posture with two legs pendant, that is, in bhadrāsana or the “auspicious pose.” This pendant-legged imagery, generally associated with the throne, has been found widely depicted in South, East, and Southeast Asian art and is, as a rule, mostly associated with kingship, fertility, and even divinity. The results of this iconological examination have wide implications for understanding the origins, spread, and development of Buddhist art in those lands, particularly during the first millennium CE.