Based on the given statements which option is correct: Statement I: Mathura art produced images for both Indian and non-Indian patrons. Statement II: Mathura art ignored nature-based themes in its sculptures.

Correct — B. Statement I holds and statement II does not.

Mathura's sculptors worked for local devotees of several faiths, carving Buddhist, Jain, Vaishnava and Shaiva images.

NCERT also records colossal statues of Kushana rulers, a dynasty whose kingdom reached from Central Asia, installed in a shrine at Mat near Mathura.

Statement II fails because Mathura carved yakshas and yakshinis, spirits tied to trees, water and fertility, in large numbers.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Statement I and II both are Correct. — Statement II is false. NCERT says Yakshas and Yakshinis were profusely sculpted at Mathura, and its Buddha image is modelled on earlier Yaksha figures.
• (c)
  Only Statement II is correct — Gets both wrong. Mathura served devotees of several faiths and made portraits of the Kushana kings, while nature spirits such as yakshis fill its sculpture.
• (d)
  Neither I nor II — Statement I is true. Images for Buddhist, Jain and Brahmanical devotees sit beside the Kushana royal statues found at Mat, near Mathura.

From the first century CE, NCERT names Gandhara, Mathura and Vengi as important centres of art production. The Buddha, earlier shown only through symbols, took human form at Mathura and Gandhara.

Mathura built on its own older tradition: its Buddha is modelled on earlier Yaksha images, while Gandhara's has Hellenistic features.

Its output was wide. Buddhist images are the most numerous, but Jain Tirthankaras, Vishnu and Shiva, and royal portraits such as the headless Kanishka also come from Mathura.

Key facts

• NCERT (An Introduction to Indian Art, Class XI) says the Mathura Buddha is modelled on earlier Yaksha images, while the Gandhara Buddha has Hellenistic features.
• Colossal statues of Kushana rulers were found installed in a shrine at Mat, near Mathura (NCERT, Themes in Indian History I).
• The headless portrait statue of Kanishka is among the royal portraits found at Mathura.
• Mathura produced Buddhist, Jain, Vaishnava and Shaiva images, with Buddhist images the most numerous.

Common traps

• Assuming Mathura art was purely Buddhist, when NCERT records Jain, Vaishnava and Shaiva images too.
• Giving Mathura the Hellenistic features that NCERT assigns to Gandhara.

No directly related past PYQ was found.