A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c15.6

c15.6

The blank in the history of Hindu painting due to the non-existence of ancient pictures cannot be filled up from literary notices. The Hindus have never taken sufficient interest in art for its own sake to write treatises, practical, historical, or critical, on the subject. As already observed (*ante*, p. 8), the vast literature of India contains only two passages dealing directly with the history of art, namely, Abūl Fazl's notice of the introduction of Indo-Persian painting, which will be discussed in Chapter XIV, and the remarks recorded in 1608 by Tāranāth, the Tibetan historian of Buddhism. His notes, notwithstanding their vagueness, a feature characteristic of the author's work, give information of importance not recorded elsewhere, and may be considered conveniently in this place.