Indian Sculpture c6.s6.t2.1

c6.s6.t2.1

The Rājput sculptures, on the other hand, are distinguished by youthfulness and a vigorous modelling of the body (Figs. 87, 88). Classical tradition has a stronger hold in them. Movements at rest, whatever action they are meant to convey, create for each figure an existence problematic in their suspense. The body yields to what is earthly in it, while it carries it as a property that does not seem to belong to it. The tribute it gives to nature, in the summary of its full modelling, is taken from it by the rigid and lifeless support of the legs, and by the detached manner in which apparel and jewellery are laid on (Fig. 87). The faces absorb the whole situation with telling awareness. Steeped in, and looking out into, a void that seems everywhere except for their own presence, they gather in their round contour the self-sufficiency of every moment that passes and sustains them.