A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c10.s3.13

c10.s3.13

It is obvious that the foreign elements in the art of Gandhāra tended to diminish as time went on, and that, generally speaking, the sculptures with most clearly marked Greek character should be considered early, and those most Indianized as comparatively late. But, as already pointed out (*ante*, p. 98), this criterion affords no infallible test of age. Some of the best finished works in Hellenistic style may have been executed by clever Indian imitators long after the introduction of the style, just as among the Mughal paintings we find close imitations of Persian models side by side and contemporary with paintings profoundly Indianized.