Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c32.30

c32.30

It is such reasons as the foregoing, and especially a consideration of the fundamental difference in the spirit and aims of Classic Greek and true Indian art, that make it necessary to reconsider the question of the extent and nature of Greek influence on Indian Art. The result of such a reconsideration will be to show that the concentration of attention upon the period of strongest and undoubted Classic influence, has magnified out of all proportion, the importance of the foreign elements. Early India did not, alone in all the world, lack all knowledge of the arts; the period of strong Greeko-Roman influence was not of great artistic importance; and it was not until this influence had largely, if not entirely, faded, that the really great achievement of Indian art was attained.