Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s9.3

v3.c12.s9.3

IN Cave IX there are paintings of different periods, some of which have been laid on older frescoes. As an example of this we notice the figures of two *bhikshus* with an inscription forming part of a fresco which had covered the older painting, now exposed on account of the removal of the former by Mr. John Griffiths some time during the years 1875-85, when he was copying the frescoes with a party of students from the Bombay School of Art.² The edge of the painting on which the two *bhikshus* are represented is clearly higher than that of the other fresco, and it appears abruptly on the surface of the latter. The heads of the two *bhikshus* from the style of their painting appear to be of the late fourth or early fifth century A.D.,³ which view is supported by the characters of the inscription painted above the head of the *bhikshu* with a ruddy complexion. In the background of this fragment the leaves of the Samālū tree (*Vitex trifolia*) show an autumnal effect (Plate XV a).