Indian Sculpture c6.s3: Differentiation According to Time
Indian Sculpture c6.s3
- Language
- English
Differentiation According to Time
c6.s3.1
Mediæval Indian sculpture is conditioned to a considerable extent by the ethnical past and structure of the country. But, taken as a whole, mediæval sculpture, from the ninth to the thirteenth century, and after the prelude of the eighth century (pp. 72, 78), proceeds in the same direction and with almost even tread, irrespective of differences in the ethnical texture. Within this synchronous unfoldment each province gives fullest expression, and reaches its zenith at that particular moment which is most congenial to its inherent trends. Such conspicuous constellations were, for instance, the ninth century in Bihār and Bengal (Fig. 97, Pāla school), the tenth century in Rājputāna, or the thirteenth century in Orissā (Figs. 88, 104).
c6.s3.2
In the ninth century, on the whole, ponderosity, as bequeathed by the seventh century and the linear tendencies of the eighth century, are being relieved by a homely glow of life, conveyed by a comfortable leaning towards naturalism which is restrained according to prescribed rules. The weightiness of the past had been incompatible with so slight an experience (Figs. 97, 105).
c6.s3.3
By the tenth century vitality and form are commensurable. Composition and figures gain a dignity that, far from being imposing, has the quiet assurance of a well-being, firmly founded on the observation of a prescribed conduct of life and on rules of image-making as well (Figs. 88, 98).
c6.s3.4
In the eleventh century this self-possessed surety is overcome by its own perfection (Figs. 99, 100). With all that self-consciousness and elegance, proportions as well as the inner message—while the iconographic facts, on the whole, needless to say, remain the same—become attenuated. Accessories are now no more the embellishments to be dispensed with, until by the twelfth century they frequently overwhelm the compositions with their meticulous exuberance (Figs. 96, 109, 111).
c6.s3.5
But at the same time more elementary forces awake afresh. The attempts of the ninth century are being taken up on a base already prepared, a luxurious naturalism flowers into being in that pristine spontaneity which only the Indian soil can give. Irrepressibly this aboriginal trend surges even at the end, when all resources seem tapped, and the last consequences are drawn and played upon. Thus it remains in the thirteenth century, wherever Indian creativeness was not destroyed altogether or checked by the rule of Islām (Fig. 104).
c6.s3.6
It is significant that now, as during the phase of early classical art, quality is of more or less the same degree throughout the country. If in the early classical age spontaneity in tackling the problems of narrative representation laid down rules of composition, the sure foundations of regulated art, ritual and iconography now supply the somewhat rigid backbone of sculpture. It is covered by a plastic texture more delicate (Figs. 84, 113) or hard (Figs. 89, 99, 104, 110), as the case may be, yet less elastic, more nervy (Figs. 85, 92), yet less blooming, than in any aspect of the classical age.