Indian Sculpture c8.252

c8.252

93. Head from Khajurāho. Tenth century. Private collection. The crown (karaṇḍa mukuṭa) and the elongated ear with ear-ring show this head to belong to an attendant divinity, which stood in profile against the ground of the relief, so that the other half of the face could not be seen. In this connection it may be pointed out that in such cases the profile, not seen as a rule, is not worked out in detail, and is altogether deformed, as it is adjusted to the slope of the surface which connects the ground with the line of the profile. These deformed halves of faces are midway between the un-formed and the formed, and they are left in this state, for they are not meant to be seen.