Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c77.275

v2.c77.275

“On the other hand, the Rajput painter was one of the people, a member of the guild of craftsmen which formed an essential portion of the Indian communal fabric since Buddhist times. With the metal worker, the stone carver, and the weaver, he was one of the village system, in ordinary life the decorator of their homes or the embellisher of the palace of the local prince. When not employed in these capacities he was preparing pictures of religious subjects, so characteristic of the later Rajput schools. A simple and unsophisticated craftsman, he is best described by applying the words of Vasari with regard to Anderea del Castagno’s first instructor: ‘One of those country painters who work at a small price, who was painting the tabernacle of a peasant, a matter naturally of no great moment.’