Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c10.80

c10.80

Buried in the dry sands of Egypt, which are a wonderful preservative of antiquities, fresco-paintings have retained their freshness intact for many thousands of years. No paintings have yet been recovered from Indian deserts, but in recent years the ancient sand-buried cities of Turkestan have given up numerous fresco-paintings of extra-ordinary interest and almost as perfect in colour as when they were painted. These tell us a great deal of the pictorial art of the Indian Buddhist monasteries in the early centuries of the Christian era, and of its progress eastwards into China and Japan.¹ The description and illustration of them must, however, be left to their fortunate discoverers, Dr. von Lecoq, Professor Grünwedel, and Dr. Stein.