Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c10.25

c10.25

As works of art the Asokan pillars hold a high place. (They are boldly designed, finely proportioned, and well-balanced conceptions, fulfilling admirably the purpose for which they were intended.) This purpose was solely monumental, as they are free-standing pillars, not part of an architectural composition, an object which has been kept in view throughout. The animals, which are the main features in the scheme, are noble conventional representations, spirited yet dignified, ideal examples of their kind. Few works of this nature could be more arresting than the broad sculptural treatment of the bull on the column from Rampurva, a superb creation, simply and truthfully rendered. Even this excellent specimen, however, has its equal in the group of four addorsed lions surmounting the Sarnath capital, who unfortunately lose some of their effect by being deprived of the massive wheel of metal they were meant to support, that "Wheel of Order" which the Rig Veda tells us "rolls around the Heavens": but the pose of their limbs and the tense muscular anatomy are the work of an accomplished hand. These lions are manifestly a Hellenic attribution, their masks (originally provided with metal eyes) and flowing manes recalling the lion-headed spouts on Greek and also Roman buildings, (Plate VII, Fig. 2.) For the quality of the workmanship in their production there can be nothing but praise, the bold contours of the figures in the round, the subtle modelling of the relief, and the unerring confidence of the chiselling being remarkable.