The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c16.s2.8

v2.c16.s2.8

On the right wall of cave X is painted the Shaḍ-Danta Jātaka, or the story of the Six-Tusked Elephant, with an inscription which palaeographically cannot be earlier than the third century A.D. If the inscription is connected with the painting, it appears that the latter is some four centuries later than its prototype on the right wall of this cave, which has already been described. The people represented in this painting are also non-Āryans, like those of the former, but the artist’s delight in the scenic beauty, or his close study of animal life, or his skill in expressing feelings of pathos with a religious effect, or his love of ornamentation in minor detail, are qualities which show that the art of painting had made much progress, both intellectually and technically, during the period of 400 years which intervened between the paintings of the left and the right walls.