The Age of the Imperial Guptas c9.37

c9.37

It is in this characteristic that the strongest appeal of Gupta art really lies. Codrington says, “Gupta art has been praised for its intellectuality. It would be better to treat it as the natural outcome of ancient Indian art, with its vivid appreciation of form and pattern, and its love of the quick beat and rhythm of living things and of their poise and balance in repose.”¹ The poise and balance or in other words, real naturalism, and symmetry were introduced into Gupta art after some effort. The sculptures in the Udaigiri caves, near Bhilsa in the Gwalior State, for example, do not all belong to one and the same date, and consequently, they betray different stages in the progress of local art. The images in the verandah of the Sanakānīka cave at Udaigiri all betray a certain amount of stilted and stiff expression which we do not find in the next reign, i.e., that of Kumāragupta I. The development of the door-frame is also incomplete and the carved door-frame in this cave² compares very unfavourably with those of the temples at Bhumra³ and Nachna Kuthara⁴, and Deogadh. The same characteristics are to be observed in the Śeṣa-śāyin in another cave as well as the smaller sculptures in Vīrasena’s Cave or Cave No. 6 at the same place. Even the elaborate door-frame or Candragupta’s cave at the same place is not of this type.¹ A change is to be noticed in the Varāha or the great Boar incarnation which is very close to Virasena’s cave, in which the elasticity of all the figures, including the quardruple frieze of gods on the adjoining wall shows that the new impulse was already working. Virasena’s cave and the Sanakānīka cave belong very definitely to the reign of Candragupta II and from these three specimens of plastic art it appears certain that the zenith of excellence was reached by Gupta artist during the reign of Kumāragupta I. The same conclusion is also apparent from the execution of dies. The finest coin issued by a Gupta mint-master is undoubtedly the Peacock type of Kumāragupta I. Another point noticeable in the Varāha cave is the grace and elasticity of the figure of Pṛthvī, a slight figure, poised lightly on the left shoulder of the Boar, and grasping the dreadful snout caressingly. The same amount of poise and elasticity is also to be observed in the figure of the Nāga and the headless figure behind it.²