Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c7.36

c7.36

It has hardly ever occurred to Indians of former times that the national art, which was the outward and visible expression of national culture and sentiment, required any written exegesis or history. Nor, indeed, does a truly national art require the aid of literature, for it is in itself a history and an explanation. In the present day what we call education in India stands so far aloof from all artistic culture that no Indian has ever come forward to expound the philosophy of Indian art, or to assert its rightful place by the side of the great æsthetic schools of the world. The name of Bôrôbudûr, where the story of the Light of Asia is told in one of the grandest epics man ever carved in stone, conveys no more meaning to an English-educated Indian than Athens or Rome would to an intelligent Eskimo or Laplander.