A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c17.35

c17.35

The Indian sculptures usually show earth-spirits, or Yakshas, male or female, holding up the horse's hoofs. As Grünwedel and Strzygowski point out, the sculptures illustrate the Buddhist legend that the earth-goddess displayed half her form while she spoke to the departing hero, and also are a reminiscence or translation of the Greek motive of Gē (Gaia) rising from the ground, familiar to Hellenic art from the fourth century B. C. Similar earth-spirits are seen in the Barberini diptych.¹ The Rider motive does not appear at Mathurā or in the Early Period, and may be assumed to have reached India after the Christian era.