Chola: Tanjore, Rajarajesvara Temple. Fresco of dancing figures. Early 11th cent.
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Barrett, Douglas E. & Basil Gray
Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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Part of Chola layer lately revealed, the most important series surviving from South India. Deal with the Saivite religion. Some of the finest panels illustrate the life of Sundaramurti, poet-saint. Siva himself frequently represented as Nataraja, Rajaraja's favourite form of the deity, or as Tripurantaka, the latter a large-scale battle scene. The technique of the Tanjore wall paintings is found nowhere else in India, not even in the South. The mineral colours, a fairly extensive palette, were applied as true fresco on the damp plaster. The joints in the work are not visible and there seem to be few signs of retouching in fresco secco. The contours are drawn in light red occasionally reinforced with black. The line is tense and controlled, doing its work without flourish or display. The movement of the colour modelling is kept slow and smooth, the general attitude to form that of the contemporary artist in bronze. (Source: D. Barrett & B. Gray, Painting of India. Skira Treasures of Asia, 1963, p. 42)
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Basham Collection
Date created
1963
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This item is provided for research purposes. Contact the Australian National University Archives at butlin.archives@anu.edu.au for permission to use.
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