Indian Sculpture c7.s2.3

c7.s2.3

As dynamic coherence accounts for accentless distribution, Indian sculpture is not static, but it is essentially dynamic. The static condition, however, is true of a considerably large number of images, yet stiffness in their case is nothing but lifelessness, and this is due to many of the craftsmen not being artists. These merely proceed according to prescribed formulæ. Their mechanical rendering serves well enough the purpose of the image and makes it a fit object for worship. But the prescriptions laid down for this purpose were never intended for the achievement of artistic quality, but they were meant to make the image fit for worship. Still, apart from the demands of cult, the born artists amongst the craftsmen could not help, while obeying the rules, to re-invest their work with a significance, in relation to which these rules were but helps and stepping-stones towards visualisation.