Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c7.237

c7.237

Both at Ellora and Elephanta, as well as at Ajanta and other places, the sculptures, like the Greek statuettes of Tanagra, were finished with a thin coating of the finest lime-plaster, generally as a preparation for colour and gilding—a process analogous to the *ganosis*, or waxing, upon which Greek sculptors placed so high a value. This finishing has often perished by age, by ill-treatment, or exposure, but sometimes it has been deliberately removed by amateur archæologists in their over-zeal for restoration. The process is still used by Indian sculptors and architects.