Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c10.s4.2

c10.s4.2

In landscape painting as well as figure drawing, the Indian composition has an element of reality, as settled by the conventions of the time. It may look very strange to us steeped into the Western ideas of composition, but it, nevertheless, serves the purpose by maintaining an equilibrium in the composition. The wall-paintings of Ajaṇṭā support our view. At the first sight, the paintings give an impression that the numerous figures appearing in the composition are disposed, without any preconceived plan, in a manner so natural that it appears almost accidental. More careful observation, however, reveals that the apparent confusion is not real, but that there is a definite order which governs the grouping of the figures.