The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.118

v1.c9.118

**Eyes:** The shape and expression of the eyes constitute by far the most essential elements in the beauty of the human face, and much has been written by Sanskrit authors on the subject. According to the *Sāmudrika*, "red eyes indicate affluence; feline eyes, anger; like those of the cock, great capacity for work; like those of the deer, beauty; like those of cats and geese, vile character; like those of peacocks, mediocrity; like those of dogs, or of a tawny colour, a disposition to cruel acts; like those of oxen, uniform prosperity; and squint eyes, a wicked intriguing disposition".⁴⁸ Of these, for purpose of poetry, the "deer-eye" and the "ox-eye", the *Boopis* of Homer, are the most important; but that peculiar liquidity, bespeaking modesty and lovely grace, which make the eye of the gazelle so frequently the subject of comparison in Eastern poetry is not attainable by the plastic art, and the ox-eye is equally beyond her province, unless the *Bous* of the compound term be taken as a prefix implying largeness.⁴⁹ In sculpture the eye is generally made large—often larger than living models would justify; and of the shape of the almond with the greater curvature lying on the upper side, and the lower eyelid forming almost a straight line. In maidens and young women, the upper lid hangs down and gives an amorous, languishing look. As the province of sculpture is not to indicate colour, no attempt has been made in large statues to indicate the iris or the pupils; but in bas-reliefs and metal figures, a circle is often drawn for the former and a dot for the latter, to indicate the light. The position of the eyes is longitudinal, never oblique, as in Egypt and archaic Grecian statues.⁵⁰ The interocular space is sometimes, but not always, less than the length of an eye, and the eyebrows are not in sufficient relief. Nowhere, however, is the gross error committed of giving a full eye to a profile face, an error so universal in Egypt. In bas-reliefs, the face assumes different positions from a perfect profile to a full face and the shape of the eye is regulated according to the position of the face, showing in this respect a much superior knowledge of art, than what the Egyptian and Assyrian sculptors evinced.