A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s2.53

c9.s2.53

Plate XVI, representing the eastern gateway, will enable the reader to appreciate the wealth of ornament lavished on the four monuments. The same gateway may be further studied by the aid of full-sized casts supplied to the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, and other institutions, some of which, however, do not exhibit the casts. Numerous illustrations, more or less accurate and satisfactory, will be found in the works of Fergusson, Maisey, Cunningham, and other writers on Indian archaeology, but nothing approaching a complete description of the sculptures exists. In January and February, 1901, Mr. H. Cousens succeeded in photographing the whole mass of sculptures on 225 negatives to a uniform scale of one-eighth, but so far little use has been made of the huge supply of material thus accumulated.² The preparation of a descriptive and critical monograph would be an arduous undertaking, and the work would probably fill several large quartos. It is not likely to be written just yet. In this chapter a few illustrations must suffice.