Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.267

c6.267

From the detailed examination of the evolution of style A and B by Prof. Norman Brown, it should not be concluded that there were stylistic variations of great magnitude in Western Indian painting, as its principal conventions are followed by all sub-varieties mentioned by Prof. Norman Brown. There is difference in draughtsmanship in various sub-groups as noticed by Prof. Norman Brown, but that may be due to strong or weak draughtsmanship of the painters. The sudden change in the quality of draughtsmanship in the palm-leaf miniatures of the 14th century is not due, in my opinion, to the evolutionary process in the twelfth and thirteenth century art, but to the influence of Persian art which delights in fine draughtsmanship. The absence of architectural and other decorative details in one group and their presence in the other may also be due to the nature of the carrier and the technical proficiency of the painters. That Western Indian school in the 13th and 14th centuries does not follow any universal pattern only shows that the painters of unequal merit existed. The mass production of Jain iconographic types verging on folk-art was naturally the work of mediocres, the works of aesthetic merit being executed by the qualified painters, hence the difference.