Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c18.19

c18.19

Some words are perhaps needed as to the purpose and use of artistic canons of proportion. Probably they have been in use from the earliest times in the East, as we know that they were in the West. But there is a tendency, not altogether unreasonable, to regard them as purely mechanical devices, reliance upon which is a fetter upon free artistic expression, and characterises rather the decline than the flower of a great tradition. But it is the abuse, not the use, of canons of proportion that does this, and it is therefore worth while to enquire into the rationale of their use by Indian craftsmen and imagers. It is in drawing from the life that a canon is likely to be a hindrance to the artist; but it is not the method of Indian art to work from the model. Almost the whole philosophy of Indian art is summed up in the verse of Sukrācārya’s ‘Sukranītisāra’ which enjoins meditation upon the imager: