The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.71

v1.c9.71

It is undeniable that religion exercised a most potent influence in the development of the plastic art in the early states of human society; and it is not surprising, therefore, that there should be observable prominent marks of a close alliance having existed between it and sculpture in former times. Then religion and sculpture often went forth hand in hand, and the light of the one frequently fell on the other. The same may be said of the fine arts generally, for poetry, music and architecture, were as intimately connected with religion as sculpture. But they are nevertheless by their origin and nature as distinct and separate as the different intellectual faculties of man can well be, and in their progress each of them has followed its course without being very materially controlled by its allies At any rate, certain it is that plastic art attained its highest development, and called forth the greatest efforts of artistic genius, while living in close alliance with crass idolatry; and Christian Europe has hitherto failed to restore the lost hand of the “Laocoon” of idolatrous Rome. A far purer religion now prevails in Europe than was ever before known in Greece or Rome, and the conception of the nature of the Deity there among the different orders of the people, is certainly better than that of the Grecians, class for class. But plastic art, instead of gaining by alliance with a higher state of intellectuality and a purer and holier religion, has positively degenerated, and fallen back. It is futile therefore to take for granted that the grossness of the Hindu religion and its metaphysical dreaminess are the only causes, or the chief causes, of the low character of the Indian plastic art, or rather to assume, as the professor has done, that Indian plastic art must be low, because the Hindu religion is bad.