Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c12.92

c12.92

Night and effects of artificial light seem to have an especial attraction for the Indian painter, and these are often handled with magnificent breadth and fine feeling. Two examples from the Calcutta Art Gallery, probably late eighteenth or early nineteenth century work, are given in Plates LXIV., LXV. In the former a young Rajput Prince and Princess are riding by night through a mountain pass, an attendant walking on foot between them; a masalchi in front carefully shows the way with a flaming torch. The darkness closes round the travellers and pursues the torch's glare. The lady is pointing eagerly forward, as if to show her gladness that the journey's end is now in sight. The legs and half of the bodies of the high-mettled steeds are painted red—an ancient custom with Rajput chivalry to symbolise the blood of their enemies through which they waded to victory. The crescent moon peeps behind the hill on the right, and there is a glimpse of a river in the plain below.