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Ajanta: Cave 1, detail of painting with columns above doorway

Date

Authors

Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham

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Abstract

Description

It has also been observed by B, Rowland that the paintings at Ajanta could be studied for their documentations of the cultural aspects of India for the time in which they were created, This is certainly the case in the many panels not dealing directly with the Buddha or his life stories, which are by canon more idealized, for here the painters give timely material details of local dress and customs, just as they give accurate pictures of popular architectural styles (like the roofed porch in our slide), Occasionally, more directly illusionistic murals are painted in which the architectural details reflect those of the chaitya hall itself: to extend the inner space of the hall into the walls themselves, Only a touch of these techniques is employed in the present detail above a doorway in the hall, Though the capitals of the columns represented in the mural are indeed like those in the nave itself, the position of the painting does not lend convincing projections into the wall at such a level, We don't really believe that a porch would appear over a door, yet beyond this obvious fact, the intuitive perspective of these painters is quite good,

Citation

Source

Type

Archives Series

Basham Collection

Date created

circa 1970s

Access Statement

License Rights

This image is provided for research purposes only and must not be reproduced without the prior permission of the Archives Program, Australian National University.

DOI

Restricted until

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