Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c10.s2.12

c10.s2.12

In the ancient treatises on painting, animals are often associated with the landscape. According to the *Viṣṇudharmottara*, the pictures of the six seasons have birds and animals as their indispensable attributes.⁴⁴ The same work recommends to paint the sky swarming with birds, the forest crowded with animals and birds, and the water with fish and tortoise.⁴⁵ The *Mānasollāsa* is the first technical text on painting, which gives elaborate description of the body measurements of a horse⁴⁶ and an elephant.⁴⁷ Fed up with such elaborate discussions the author concludes: "Innumerable are the beings which could not be described. The intelligent artist should paint them according to their forms. Their realistic representations should be as their reflections in a mirror."⁴⁸