Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v1.c3.2

v1.c3.2

Notwithstanding their merits, these copies have not fully satisfied the connoisseur. For one thing the leanings and characteristics of the copyist have crept into them, and for another the technique of the original frescoes has been found too vigorous to be reproduced faithfully in a less pronounced medium. On the latter point the opinion of Lady Herringham, who spent several years in copying the frescoes on the spot, is decisive. She writes: ‘In reality the technique of the original work is so sure and perfect that none of us were good enough executants to repeat it,’ and further: ‘Most of it has a kind of emphatic, passionate force, a marked technical skill, very difficult to suggest in copies done in a slighter medium.’¹