Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c19.31

c19.31

Figures are represented in full, three-quarter or side face, never as seen from behind. This fact is remarked by the mediæval poet, Toṭagomuva (see p. 10), in a verse of the Seḷa Lihiṇi Sandēśaya: “True friends, alike when adverse fortune comes or when success, like painted images upon a wall, show not their backs.”