A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c13.s5.t1.81

c13.s5.t1.81

The capabilities of modern sculptors in the South are best proved by the decorations of the new palace in the town of Mysore executed to the order of H.H. the Mahārāja and described and illustrated by Mr. A. Rea. Skill is not confined to the members of any one caste, and the Mahārāja has been willing to employ capable men from any district. The material used is sometimes soapstone and sometimes stone of considerable hardness. The soapstone is employed in fairly large masses, a clever figure of Vishnu, for instance, being two feet in height. The drapery of that figure looks as if it had been imitated from photographs of Gandhāra work. The style throughout is frankly eclectic and imitative, and it is obvious that the artists have studied models of various periods and schools. One decorative motive is admittedly borrowed from a picture by Ravi Varma (see Chapter IX), and the more direct influence of modern European art can be clearly traced. A relief representing the marriage of Rukmini looks as if it had been suggested by study of photographs of the Boro-Būdūr bas-reliefs. Some of the female figures are very pretty. Artistically, the best things are certain decorative soapstone panels wrought with floral and other designs, thoroughly Indian in character and of first-rate quality.¹