Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c12.17

c12.17

“The art is one of pure draughtsmanship; the pictures are brilliant statements of the facts of the epic (the life of Mahāvīra, like the Buddha-charita, is essentially an epic), where every incident is seen in the light of eternity. To call this pure drawing, implies that it is an art of symbols and indifferent to representation. On the other hand, it is not calligraphic, that is to say, that elegance or an elegant combination of lines is not deliberately sought, and in this sense the drawing is more like script (such as that of the accompanying text) made to be clearly and easily read. There is no preoccupation with pattern, colour, or texture for their own sake; but these are achieved with inevitable assurance in a way that could not have been the case had they been directly sought. The drawing has in fact the perfect equilibrium of a mathematical equation, or a page of composer’s score. Theme and formula compose an inseparable unity, text and pictures form a continuous relation of the same dogma in the same key.”