Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c15.33

v4.c15.33

Dramatic effect and the emotional feeling are still better shown in another scene painted on the same wall representing the *Syāma (Sāma) Jātaka*, in which the remorse of the rājā who unwittingly killed Syāma with an arrow shot by him, the wailing of his blind parents, and ultimately, by an act of providence, the restoration to life of Syāma and the bestowal of vision upon his parents, are very graphically delineated. The drawing of the figure of Syāma possesses the grace of the classical sculpture of Europe, while the head of the father of Syāma indicates the 'pathos' which is to be noticed in the Italian paintings of the Renaissance period, notably in the portraits of Jesus Christ. The figures of deer are also admirably drawn in this scene.³ This painting is not labelled with any inscription which might indicate its date, but as the *dramatis personae* delineated therein, both by their dress and features, are seen to be early inhabitants of the Deccan, it may be assigned to a period extending from the last quarter of the third century A.D. to the first quarter of the fourth, that is, to a time immediately preceding the sovereignty of the Vākāṭakas; for the extent of their dominions and their matrimonial relations with the Guptas and the Nāga kings of Padmāvatī (Gwalior State) would have led a large number of people from the North to enter the Deccan and settle there.⁴