Read the passage and answer the questions:
Revolt of 1857: Paintings
Newspaper reports have 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 honor 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. 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 forces arriving as saviours. In another set of sketches and paintings we see women in a different light. They appear heroic, defending themselves against the attack of rebels.
“Relief of Lucknow” painting celebrates the moment of ____________ entry.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Colin Campbell
‘Relief of Lucknow’ was painted by Thomas Jones Barker in 1859. When the rebels besieged Lucknow, Henry Lawrence took refuge in the Residency and was killed there; James Outram and Henry Havelock arrived on 25 September and reinforced the garrison. Twenty days later Colin Campbell, the new Commander of British forces in India, came with his forces and rescued the garrison. Barker’s painting celebrates the moment of Campbell’s entry, with Campbell, Outram and Havelock at the centre of the canvas.
NCERT (2025-26): “5.1 Celebrating the saviours … British pictures offer a variety of images that were meant to provoke a range of different emotions and reactions. Some of them commemorate the British heroes who saved the English and repressed the rebels. ‘Relief of Lucknow’, painted by Thomas Jones Barker in 1859, is an example of this type. When the rebel forces besieged Lucknow, Henry Lawrence, the Commissioner of Lucknow, collected the Christian population and took refuge in the heavily fortified Residency. Lawrence was killed but the Residency continued to be defended under the command of Colonel Inglis. On 25 September James Outram and Henry Havelock arrived, cut through the rebel forces, and reinforced the British garrisons. Twenty days later Colin Campbell, who was appointed as the new Commander of British forces in India, came with his forces and rescued the besieged British garrison. In British accounts the siege of Lucknow became a story of survival, heroic resistance and the ultimate triumph of British power. Barker’s painting celebrates the moment of Campbell’s entry. At the centre of the canvas are the British heroes – Campbell, Outram and Havelock.…”
Fig. 10.10 “Relief of Lucknow”, painted by Thomas Jones Barker, 1859 |
