Read the passage and answer the questions:
Images of the Revolt of 1857
Newspaper reports have a power over public imagination; they shape feelings and attitudes to events. Inflamed particularly by tales of violence against women and children, there were public demands in Britain for revenge and retribution. The British government was asked to protect the honour of innocent women and ensure the safety of helpless children. Artists expressed as well as shaped these sentiments through their visual representations of trauma and suffering.... "In Memoriam" was painted by Joseph Noel Paton two years after the mutiny. It does not show gory violence; it only suggests it. It stirs up the spectator's imagination, and seeks to provoke anger and fury. Miss Wheeler stands firmly at the centre, defending her honour, single-handedly killing the attacking rebels. In one of the cartoons published in the pages of Punch, a British journal of comic satire, Canning is shown as a looming father figure, with his protective hand over the head of a sepoy....Art and literature, as much as the writing of history, have helped in keeping alive the memory of 1857. Rani of Jhansi was represented as a masculine figure chasing the enemy, slaying British soldiers and valiantly fighting till her last. Children in many parts of India grow up reading the lines of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan: "... Like a man she fought, she was the Rani of Jhansi". In popular prints Rani Lakshmi Bai is usually portrayed in battle armour, with a sword in hand and riding a horse - a symbol of the determination to resist injustice and alien rule.
Which of the following statement is not true about the painting "In Memoriam"?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → It shows gory violence.
Option (1) It shows gory violence. — Incorrect statement. “In Memoriam” does not show gory violence; it only suggests it, through English women and children huddled in a circle, waiting for dishonour, violence and death.
Option (2) It represents the rebels as violent and brutish. — Correct statement. The painting represents the rebels as violent and brutish, even though they remain invisible in the picture.
Option (3) It seeks to provoke anger and fury. — Correct statement. It stirs up the spectator’s imagination and seeks to provoke anger and fury.
Option (4) In the background, it shows the British rescue forces arriving as saviours. — Correct statement. The British rescue forces are seen arriving as saviours in the background.
NCERT (2026-27): “5.2 English women and the honour of Britain … was painted by Joseph Noel Paton two years after the mutiny. You can see English women and children huddled in a circle, looking helpless and innocent, seemingly waiting for the inevitable – dishonour, violence and death. ‘In Memoriam’ does not show gory violence; it only suggests it. It stirs up the spectator’s imagination, and seeks to provoke anger and fury. It represents the rebels as violent and brutish, even though they remain invisible in the picture. In the background you can see the British rescue forces arriving as saviours.”
Fig. 10.11 “In Memoriam”, by Joseph Noel Paton, 1859 |
