The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c8.21

c8.21

The final point I would stress concerns the startling disparity in the style and execution of many of these Early Indian sculptures. In some cases this disparity is of course due to the unequal ability of the sculptors responsible for the work, and nothing more need be said about it. But in other cases the disparity results from an over-conscientious regard for the traditional treatment of certain figures or groups of figures, particularly those of gods or earthly princes and their retinues. We have already seen a characteristic example of this in fig. 7, where the emotionless, puppet-like figures of the *devas* on the left, in violent contrast with the spirited scene on the right, are clearly due to established convention. The contrast is one that is constantly confronting us in these early sculptures.