Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.146

c6.146

2. Dr. W. Norman Brown objects to the nomenclature Jain as suggested by Dr. Coomaraswamy and later on adopted by Mr. Ajit Ghose³, and gives it a more specific title of ‘Śvetāmbara Jain School’⁴. His arguments in favour of his nomenclature are as follows:—(a) The term Jain is too inclusive, for no painting in this particular style is reported among the Digambara Jains. (b) The nomenclature could not be Gujarātī as there are stylistic differences between the Vasanta Vilāsa and Śvetāmbara miniatures, and that their geographical provenance is not limited to Gujarāt but also extends to Rājputānā. On the strength of these considerations, he comes to the conclusion that the Śvetāmbara Jain would be a more appropriate title. In support of his new nomenclature, he points out a characteristic feature of these miniatures in which the eye in a three-quarter view of the face protrudes beyond the facial line. This feature, he explains, has been borrowed by the painters from the Śvetāmbara icons in which the original eyes are covered with additional glass eyes extending out of the facial line. Seen from three-quarter view, they protrude beyond the line of the cheek into space.