Indian Sculpture c8.236

c8.236

Sword, shield, quiver, etc., are laid across the figures, in front of and behind them. They act as exponents of the linear context, and sum it up by their slightly concave curves. A greater delicacy in modelling, a lighter and more flexible handling of the linear elements, distinguish the sculptures from Harasnāth from the more stolid weight of the sculptures from Malwa, in which the central Indian, i.e. the classical share, prevails over the mediæval. But when viewed against reliefs of the westernmost branch, it is a relatively pithy sturdiness which distinguishes Rājput sculptures. Each province within the western school gives form to the mediæval problem in a manner of its own.