The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.122

v1.c9.122

**Chin, lips and mouth:** The chin is never so pointed as in the Daedalian school of Greece, and the lips are never so thin and skinny. The opening of the mouth is small and in excellent keeping with the face. A forced smile in the female face is common; in one irstance, that of a nude female in the Rājarāṇī temple, standing with the left hand across the breast, and the right in front of the body lower down, in the attitude of the Venus de Medici the idea of modesty which the classic artist so beautifully portrayed, has been entirely dissipated by this unbecoming simper. The classic artist, also, left to the imagination to find out the cause of the position of his figure, whereas the less poetic Uriyā has introduced a grinning boy at the foot of the statue to explain its meaning and thereby given to the whole a most indecent expression. The statue is perfectly insulated, and, but for its standing on both feet resting flat on the ground, could have been taken for a copy of the Medicean goddess. General Cunningham met with a somewhat similar statue at Mathurā; but its right hand does not extend sufficiently low, and it has some drapery and a great deal of ornament on its person. The general describes it thus: "The most remarkable piece of sculpture is that of a [ 60 ] female of rather more than half life-size. The figure is naked, save a girdle of beads round the waist, the same as is seen in the Bhilsā sculptures and Ajantā paintings. The attitude and the positions of the hands are similar to those of the famous statue of Venus of the Capitol. But in the Mathurā statue, the left hand is brought across the right breast, while the right holds up a small portion of drapery. The head is slightly inclined towards the right shoulder, and the hair is dressed in a new and peculiar manner, with long curls on each side of the face, which fall from a large circular ornament on the top of the head. The back of the figure is supported by a thick cluster of lotus stalks covered with buds and flowers, which are very gracefully arranged, and boldly executed. The plump face with its broad smile is the least satisfactory part of the work. Altogether this statue is one of the best specimens of Indian art that I have met with. I presume that it represents a dancing girl". ⁵¹ This smile, however, is not universal; and in the more finished specimens of work there is a great deal of expression and adaptation of the face appropriate to the subject intended to be expressed. In this respect the Uriyā artists, again, excel the sculptors of Egypt and Assyria, as well as those of ancient Greece. "The selfsame face and expression, alike in mourning or in jubilee, in every condition of life, so that a king differs not in the least from the peasant at the plough", so characteristic of Egyptian sculpture, is far from being prevalent in Orissa, though to a certain, and on the whole a very small, extent, it has not been prevented in minor figures. There is also in them more energy, more action, and altogether more life and feeling than are to be met with in the statues of Egypt.