The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c33.31.3

v1.c33.31.3

In the earlier, the scene is living and real, because the artist has conceived it clearly in his own brain and expressed his conception with dramatic simplicity; in the later, the houses and the figures framed in the balconies are stereotyped and lifeless, and the movement and turmoil of the crowd surging towards the city less convincing, because the artist has depended not so much upon his own originality as upon the conventional treatment of such scenes. In the earlier, the depth of the relief and the intervals between the figures are varied, and the shadows diffused or intensified accordingly; in the later, the figures are compressed closely together, with the result that the shadows between them become darker, and a ‘colouristic’ effect is thus imparted to the whole. In the earlier, lastly, the composition is enhanced by varying the directions in which the figures move; in the later, though the attitudes are manifold, the movement taken as a whole is uniform. These differences in style are due in a large measure to the individuality of the artists, but they are due, also, to the changes which were coming over Indian relief consequent on the deepening of extraneous influences, on improved technical skill, and on the growing tendency towards conventionalism.