The Development of Hindu Iconography c15.2.2

c15.2.2

But as very few sculptors could be successful in turning out really beautiful images (Sarvāṅgaiḥ sarvaramyo hi kaścillakṣe prajāyate), it would be better that all divine images conform to the correct proportions as laid down in the śāstras, for ‘beautiful is that image which is made according to the canons detailed in the śāstras,—no other is so’ (Śastramānena yo ramyaḥ sa ramyo nānya eva hi). The practice of stereotyping these rules of proportions in the fashioning of human figures was not peculiar to the Indian artists alone, but was also adopted by many ancient nations of the world. W. W. Hyde says, ‘The doctrine of human proportions is very ancient, originating in Egyptian art.’¹ The first canon employed by the Egyptians in the time of the Ancient Empire, ‘divides an erect human figure over 18 squares, the highest of which ends, not at the top of the head, but at the top of the brow, thus leaving the dome of the skull outside, as well as the head-dresses or crowns which the Egyptian monuments display in such great variety.’² Hyde remarks very properly that the greatest artists—architects, painters and sculptors of all times have taught and practised the doctrine that certain proportions are beautiful, *e.g.*, the proportion of the height of the head or the length of the foot to the whole body.³ In modern times, we have only to mention such names as those of da Vinci, Duerer, Raphael and Flaxman.