A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c7.5

c7.5

Tradition is a factor of such commanding power in Indian art, as, indeed, in all Indian institutions, that it is peculiarly difficult to feel assured that a given sculpture or painting in India is rightly classed as an example of Fine Art and not merely as a product of the skilled craftsman's workshop. All that can be done is to select the works that on the face of them display creative power, more or less. The bronze images of the Dancing Śiva (Natarāja) discussed in Chapter VII, Sections 6 B and 7 B, offer an excellent illustration of the way in which the distinction may be drawn. All of them are constructed to an authorized pattern prescribed by written rule and sketched in traditional outline drawings, but within the limits so laid down the artistic treatment may vary infinitely. The best examples are unquestionably works of art, while the worst are merely the trade products of coppersmiths executing the orders of customers.