A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c12.s1.43

c12.s1.43

It is very difficult, as already hinted, to discover any plausible explanation of the rise of the distinct Gupta style of sculpture, which is reflected in the figure types of a few coins dating from a little before and after 400 A. D. (*post*, Chap. X, Sec 1), and showing clear evidence of Western, chiefly Roman, influence. The statuary, however, presents nothing distinctly Roman or Hellenic, unless it be the 'refined restraint' above mentioned, which is not quite Indian. Can it be that in the Gupta age some forgotten sculptor of genius succeeded in absorbing the Greek spirit of beauty from study of the best Hellenic models, and founded a school by transfusing that spirit into Indian forms? Who can tell? The conquest of Western India by Chandragupta Vikramāditya about 390 A. D. undoubtedly brought the north into renewed touch with the Western world through the ports, and I entertain a strong belief that the efflorescence of Indian literature, science, and art during the Gupta period was largely due to the clash of ideas resulting from the extension of the northern empire to the shores of the Arabian Sea, and the active intercourse with foreign countries both to the east and west, which unquestionably characterized the times¹.