Maurya and Shunga Art c7.7

c7.7

From the Lauriya-Nandangarh specimen to the Rampurva lion there is a decided advance in the clear and precise cutting of the stone, in general finish, in the feeling for form and in linear rhythm. There is also an evident advance in modelling which is powerful and vigorous, specially in the muscles and thews, but the entire artistic conception is conventional and treatment stylised which is nowhere more evident than in the schematic treatment of the manes and the almost lifeless and conventional presentation of the legs and paws. Yet, compared to the Sarnath quadripartite the Rampurva lion as a piece of independent sculpture may be considered artistically superior, though the former, architectonically speaking, is more advanced, since nowhere else in the Mauryan columns a better and more efficient harmony with the abacus and the capital has been achieved.