The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.44

v1.c9.44

It would be as useless as tedious to describe in detail the manner in which these various ornaments have been combined and disposed, particularly as the plates annexed will appeal to the eye and mind much more readily and effectually than any description that I can offer. The bands are used both singly, and in combination, often three, four, or five different bands being placed side by side so as to produce the most gorgeous effect. Round the principal doorways this combination of moulding is carried to an inordinate extent, and in some places a dozen bands may be seen placed side by side, and eked out by the intervention of small bas-reliefs of men and animals. A remarkable feature in such cases is formed by two snakes twining on each other. The snakes are generally most carefully executed in black chlorite, and the effect is very agreeable. At the entrance to the Great Tower, a broad band about a foot wide, is formed of an elegant pothos vine coiled into loops, each of which encloses a chubby little boy—a cherub without wings—disporting among the foliage. The design and execution of the juvenile figures are remarkably beautiful. They display a quiet grace, an artistic feeling, and a playful fancy which are deserving of every admiration; and this is the more noteworthy as Hindu artists are not particularly proficient in developing the human figure with a correct eye to nature. The sight of these little cherubs recalled to my mind Sir Joshua Reynold's picture of Cupid sleeping on a cloud in the Library of the Asiatic Society, as the fittest object of comparison, next only to a fat, handsome, healthy, living child of one year of age,—the most lovely object in creation. Unfortuntely, however, [48] for the taste of the artist of this elegant group, there is an adjoining band formed of square panels filled with ill-formed human couples in most disgustingly obscene positions. Counterparts of these two bands may be seen at the Koṇārak porch, but the execution of the cherubs there, is not nearly so good.