Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c77.101

v2.c77.101

“It is not known since when the gold-leaf began to be used for decorating images and paintings, but it is certain that in the early centuries of the Christian era gold-leaves were being used for decorating the stucco images of the Buddha in Gandhāra. The Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa also mentions gold as a colouring material (Visnudharmottara, III, 40, 25), but we do not find the use of gold in the paintings of Ajanta, Ellura, Bagh or Badami. In the illustrated Jain manuscripts of the fifteenth century, gold, however, is profusely used. It seems, therefore, quite possible that the use of gold as a colouring material and also border decoration was introduced in India from Persia where the method of decoration with gold was first introduced by the Timurides in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century this method of decoration extended from Bokhara to various Persian centres. It came to India from Persia, where its use became general. The use of gold was not only confined to the embellishment of the manuscripts but was also extended in the binding of albums and for the decoration of calligraphic panels”—Motichand.