Indian Sculpture c5.s2.t4: Central India and Orissā
Indian Sculpture c5.s2.t4
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Central India and Orissā
c5.s2.t4.1
The school of Mathurā formulated prototypes of the Indian pantheon, and raised the figure of man to sculptural supremacy. In other parts of the country, which but remotely fell under its sway, parallel processes are to be seen at work. In Sāñcī (ground balustrade reliefs of stūpa II, of the second century A.D.)⁶⁸ the stretched proportions of the human figure—no longer top-heavy and stunted in growth, as in the underlying Austro-Asiatic type (p. 33), are clad with soft flesh and versatile movement and outline. The tendencies of Bodhgayā (p. 29) have now made sure of their faculties. In Orissā, too (Rānī Gumphā, and Gaṇeśa Gumphā, first and second centuries A.D.⁶⁹), such achievements as those on the gateways of Sāñcī, are made to serve as a field of action for bodies with free and impetuous gestures, and for physiognomies aflame with the zest of being alive, while older conventions linger on in a provincial manner. Provincialisms and atavisms are further conspicuous in reliefs of this period from the Central Provinces.⁷⁰
c5.s2.t4.2
Scantily preserved sculptures of the third century show, in Gwālior, for instance (Fig. 45), the idiom of the school of Mathurā still active. A summarising consistency belongs to this age. A flattening and hardening of the plastic context makes the character of form in this age of transition appear parallel to that of Indian sculpture of the eighth century (pp. 72, 78 and Figs. 69, 81, 83).