Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c12.s17.7

c12.s17.7

From the Lauriya-Nandangarh specimen to the Rampurva lion there is a decided advance in the clear and precise cutting of the stone, in general finish, in the feeling for form and in linear rhythm. There is also an evident advance in modelling which is powerful and vigorous, specially in the muscle and thews, but the entire artistic conception is conventional and treatment stylised which is nowhere more evident than in the schematic treatment of the manes and the almost lifeless and conventional presentation of the legs and paws. Yet, compared to the Sārnāth quadripartite the Rampurva lion as a piece of independent sculpture must be considered artistically superior, though the former, architectonically speaking, is more advanced since nowhere else in the Mauryan columns has been achieved a better and more efficient harmony with the abacus and the capital.