Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c10.s1.26

c10.s1.26

In this connection, we may revert to Dr. Norman Brown’s theory which attributes the protuberance of the farther eye to painters copying the Śvetāmbara Jain images putting on additional glass-eyes which, viewed from the side, showed that the farther eye protrudes beyond the line of the cheek into space. This is quite an ingenious explanation of the phenomenon, but there are a few serious obstacles in the way of accepting his theory. It has been pointed out above that this phenomenon occurs in more or less degree in Indian wall-paintings from the 7th century to the 12th, and, if we accept Dr. Norman Brown’s theory, we will have to assume that the Hindū and Buddhist idols, in common with the medieval Śvetāmbara Jain images, wore glass-eyes—an assumption for which there is no proof. As a matter of fact, the wearing of glass-eye or *netra*, as it is called, could not claim great antiquity. At least, we have not come across any reference to glass-eyes as a part of an idol in medieval Sanskrit texts on iconography. It is remarkable, however, that during the Mughal period or a little earlier such kind of decoration seems to have come into vogue, and not only the Jain but also the Vaishnavite images of the Vallabhāchārya sect of that period were decorated with the enamelled silver eyes. The practice continues even today. It is probable that this hideous invention was made with a view to impart æsthetic beauty to otherwise dull and commonplace images of the Mughal period. As I have said before, the reason for such a deformity is not to be sought in the extraneous circumstances, but in the historical development of the technique itself and I hope, I have been able to advance enough proof to support my thesis. In ancient India, there was more or less an uniformity of conventions relating to the model human types, aesthetic view-point and other artistic technicalities. These conventions, after the 7th century, continued in a decadent form. As from Sanskrit, different forms of Prākṛit and Apabhramaśas, the languages of the people, were evolved, so from the old pictorial traditions, which are truly the language of the artists, sprung medieval art traditions. They have provincial peculiarities as the regional dialects, nevertheless they are derived from a common source.