Indian Sculpture c9.97

c9.97

The extent to which plastic art in Veṅgī is differentiated in the various sites is illustrated by the work on the monuments quoted here. Gumadidurru stands nearest in quality and style to corresponding compositions in Amarāvatī, i.e. of the latest phase (Fergusson, *Tree and Serpent Worship*, Pls. LXXIX–LXXXI), although a heavier and more flaccid modelling of some of the figures links them with the reliefs of the other sites. On the whole the reliefs from these recently discovered sites but rarely attain the level of the reliefs of Amarāvatī. The leading craftsmen must have worked in the capital, while it was left to lesser talents to decorate the stūpas in the vicinity. They vitiate the balance of the many trends which are at one in Amarāvatī by singling them out, and while they work in one trend or the other they overstress its possibilities.