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.
____________ painted the painting “In Memoriam”, ____________ after the mutiny.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Joseph Noel Paton, 2 years
The passage names the painter, Joseph Noel Paton, but not the time. ‘In Memoriam’ was painted by Paton two years after the mutiny, in 1859, when the anger in Britain over the events of 1857 was still fresh. Thomas Jones Barker painted a different picture of the revolt, ‘Relief of Lucknow’.
NCERT (2025-26): “5.2 English women and the honour of Britain … Artists expressed as well as shaped these sentiments through their visual representations of trauma and suffering. ‘In Memoriam’ (Fig. 10.11) 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” |