Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.28

v2.c11.28

Ajanta frescoes are the mature and model masterpieces of Indian classical painting. Their subjects were mainly Buddha Jataka story and Buddha's story. Early frescoes were created around mid-2^nd or 1^st century BCE and the most late frescoes were created after 475 CE. These frescoes abided by the rules of six elements of Indian traditional paintings They belong to the fine quality works of Indian traditional painting, and pay attention to expressing emotion. Two dominant aesthetic emotional keynotes were used to express 'love' for worldly emotional life and 'sympathy' for religious emotion. In these caves, painting spread around the cave walls, pillars and patios. Ajanta frescoes have had a significant impact upon the local art of painting in India, and grottoes frescoes in Dunhuang and Yungang in China.