Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c18.21

c18.21

The canon, then, is of use as a rule of thumb, relieving him of some part of the technical difficulties, leaving him free to concentrate his thought more singly on the message or burden of his work. It is only in this way that it must have been used in periods of great achievement, or by great artists. It must also be remembered that the use of some such device was always absolutely essential in the case of the many colossal images made, and often executed in a relatively cramped space, such as the interior of a rock vihāra. Further, only a few of the measurements given are used in the case of the smaller images; all the minuter details are necessary only in the case of colossal statues. And the fact that the canon is now used mechanically by mere craftsmen is no contradiction of its value, for even their work is the better, not the worse, for their reliance upon tradition and rule. This at first sight may be doubted, but will be obvious to those familiar with the degeneration that everywhere results when even the old tradition, however rigidly interpreted, is abandoned, and a futile endeavour made to imitate a foreign style or the individualism of Western art.*