How did the painters, who produced the images of the Revolt of 1857, feel perceive those events and what did they want to convey? Explain briefly.

(a) The pictorial images produced by the British and Indians - paintings, pencil drawings, posters, cartoons etc. form an important record of the mutiny. In particular, British picutes offering a variety of images have provoked a range of different emotions and reactions.

(b) Some of them commemorate the British heroes who saved the English and repressed the rebels. An example of this type was ‘Relief of Lucknow’ painted by Thomas Jones Barker in 1859. It depicts the efforts of James Outrom, Henry Havelock and Colin Campbell in rescuing the besieged British garrison in Lucknow.

(c) The dead and injured in the foreground of the picture indicate the sufferings which occurred during the siege. While the triumphant figures of horses in the middle ground emphasised the fact that British rule had been restablished. This reassured the British people that the rebellion had been crushed and the British were victorious.

(d) Newspapers reported incidents of violence against women and children which led to demands for revenge and retribution. Artists gave expression to these feelings through their visual representations of trauma and suffering.

(e) “In memoriam” painted by Joseph Noel Paton portrays helpless English women and children huddled in a circle awaiting their fate at the hands of the rebels. It represents the rebels as violent seeks to provoke anger and fury.

(f) In certain sketches and paintings women are depicted as heroic and defending themselves against the rebels as did Miss Wheeler.

(g) Threatened by the rebellion, the British felt the need to demonstrate their invincibility. In one image a female figure of justice with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other is shown. Her posture is aggressive and her face expresses anger and a desire for revenge. She is shown trampling sepoys under her feet while Indian women and children hide from her.

(h) This urge for vengeance led the rebels to be executed in brutal ways. They were flown from guns or hanged from the gallows. Images of these executions were widely found in popular journals.