A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s1.39

c9.s1.39

A broken statue of a man which once crowned one of the detached columns at Sāñchī was regarded by Cunningham as a singularly successful effort of Indian art. The figure, which is nude save for a scanty waistcloth and has a small nimbus round the head, appears to be that of some Buddhist saint. Cunningham thought that it might be an effigy of Asoka himself, who was and is venerated as a saint. But Asoka, if represented as a religious person, would be clothed in a monastic robe, not in a waistcloth. Moreover, it is doubtful if the nimbus was used in India in his time. The statue, although of early date, probably is considerably later than Asoka's age. The published sketches are hardly sufficient to justify a judgement on the aesthetic merits of the work.¹