Indian Sculpture c5.s3.t1.35

c5.s3.t1.35

Such transformation of appearance makes it free from the law of gravitation. What is heavy and yet appears weightless is the charming puzzle, and the sculptors of this age never get tired of repeating it in figures flying without wings (Figs. 60, 68, etc.), soaring pot-bellied Ganas, and urgent heavenly spirits cutting across the air, singly or in couples, on clouds that are the lining to an eternal dalliance. In the second and third centuries, dance had been the element in which the figures appeared at home. Now they are still further freed from all crude gravity, and their bodies are suspended in ‘mid-air’ and permanent bliss.