[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [Mediaeval Sinhalese Art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908) › c19.34 # Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c19.34 Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c19.34 - **Language:** English ### [c19.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.34) The figures have a good deal of vivacity and dignity, but are rarely drawn with any feeling for the beauty of the human form; they are sometimes almost grotesque. The canon of measurement (Sāriputra) is not made use of in drawing figures in \*jataka\* scenes, but only in representing Buddha or figures of the gods. The absence of perspective is so much a part of the style that we can hardly call it a fault. We can imagine an improvement in the drawing, but the introduction of perspective and relief and division of the picture into several planes would so alter the work—not necessarily for the better—that it could no longer be called Kandyan painting. - [Previous: c19.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.33) - [Next: c19.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.35) - [Up: c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.coomaraswamy-1908.c19.34) · Pramāṇa