A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c7.45

c7.45

The fragmentary nature of the record of painting makes it more difficult to judge how far the Indian forms of that art are original. We may suspect foreign, and especially Persian, elements in the art of Ajaṇṭā and Sigiriya, but suspicion is far removed from proof, and proof is lacking. The close relation between the sculptures and the paintings of the Western Caves supports the view that the paintings are indigenous, but no definite conclusion can be formulated because materials for tracing the antecedents of the early Indian and Ceylonese paintings do not apparently exist. Perhaps detailed study of the recent discoveries in Chinese Turkistan may throw more light on the obscure question of the origin of Indian painting.