A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c17.5

c17.5

In his days, as we have seen (*ante*, p. 60), the dominant foreign influence was Persian, traceable clearly in his monolithic columns, in the pillars of structural buildings, and in architectural decoration. The true Persian capitals, characterized by recumbent bulls or other animals, are found at Bharhut, Sānchī and elsewhere, in the Gandhāra reliefs, and at Eran in Central India, even as late as the fifth century of the Christian era. The capitals of the monolithic columns, with their seated and standing animals, although distinctly reminiscent of Persia, differ widely from Persian models, and are artistically far superior to anything produced in Achaemenian times. Mr. Marshall, as already observed (*ante*, p. 60), can hardly be right in ascribing the beautiful design and execution of the Sārnāth capital (*ante*, Plate XIII) and its fellows to Asiatic Greeks in the service of Asoka¹.