A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c10.s1.4

c10.s1.4

The fact was so novel and surprising that one distinguished antiquary, Mr. W. Vaux, F.R.S., was bold enough to dispute it, and to declare his inability to perceive any manifest traces of Greek art on the sculptures procured by Dr. Leitner and other collectors in the neighbourhood of Peshāwar. In a short time, however, evidence accumulated so rapidly that no possibility of doubt remained, and Professor Curtius was able to announce that the discoveries opened 'a new page in the history of Greek art'. That is the explanation of the keen interest taken in them by European scholars, who are eager to follow out in its most minute details the story of Greek art, on which that of modern Europe is based, while they usually remain indifferent, or even contemptuous, towards manifestations of artistic power in the nations of the East developed independently of the Hellenic tradition.