| Bhai Gian Singh Naqash |
| Written by Administrator | ||||
Page 3 of 4 The other items of note in fresco-painting are floral "square " ( murraba) and "rectangle" (tilli). These are used in wall, floor or ceiling decoration. The square usually consists of a fine setting of flowers, leaves, creepers or bushes within a flowery border with handsomely patterned corners. A typical example of a square done by Gian Singh is the one called Aquatic Harmony. It takes for its motif a number of fish encircling a tortoise, with others frolicking around the first set in a circular rhythm.Gian Singh introduced a number of innovations in the art of fresco painting. His predecessors in the Sikh school of art depicted gods and goddesses in the body of the pedestal in the manner of their Persian or Mughal forerunners. But Gian Singh replaced these motifs with those of "grapples" (pakran) of animals, birds, flowers, creepers, etc. He also painted historical Sikh shrines on the body of the vase formerly left blank in addition to this, he brought shade work to a high standard of perfection and gave a poetic touch to his compositions by making them rhythmically balanced and elegant. The colours he used were always bright and attractive. Apart from fresco painting Gian Singh tried his hand at several allied arts such as (gach) stuccowork, (jarathari) mosaic work and (tukri) cut-glass work. He was an expert in gach work which consists in carving embossed designs on partially wet layers of plaster of Paris and afterwards, when completely dry, covering it with gold leaves with an undercoat of varnish. Verses from the Japu ji have been rendered in this style under the arches leading to the sanctum in the Golden Temple. Another type of work popularly known as tukri work, much in vogue in Mughal days, consists in setting pieces of glass, gold leaves or precious stones in gach work in artistic patterns. The twin work on the inside of the dome in the central sanctum of the Golden Temple executed in its entirety by Gian Singh, bears witness to his sense of design and his patience and assiduity. Gian Singh not only prepared designs for Jaratkari (mosaic) work in marble to be executed by craftsmen from Delhi and Rajasthan, but also selected stones of appropriate colour and grain to be laid in the marble. The mosaic designs were based on colourful representations of flora and fauna or on themes picked from Hindu mythology. |
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