国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

eye suggest a foreigner, or Khotanese. At top is a young monk, both hands raised in

vitarka mudrá. Although the face is damaged, it can be seen that the nose is long and

fine, perhaps Semitic; and that his arched eyebrows meet. The hair, black and short,

is trimmed into capricious, angular forms. His robe is red, and under-garment

green. The nimbus is green, bordered with red, grey, and yellow.

On the right of the plate is a reproduction, to a larger scale (about a fourth of

actual size), of that part of the Buddha in the picture, which survives. It shows more

effectively than in the more reduced version, the confidence and freedom in the

drawing of contour lines. This quality is well shown in the flowing lines of the

hand and arm, and in the sweeping curves of face, neck, and breast. The small web,

with fine cross-hatching, between thumb and finger is clearly visible. The mouth,

slightly smiling, reveals the teeth; and it will be noticed that in drawing the

fantastic little moustache, the harshness of the black lines is softened by grey under-

lines. The same treatment is followed in drawing the eyebrows. Just visible is the

scalloped line (red) where the hair meets the forehead. It is strange that while the

forms of hand and facial features have been carefully studied, although obviously

reduced to a formula, the ear has never received the same care; and, to say nothing

of its exaggerated proportions, it is always rather wooden and artificial.

The unhesitating freedom of line is very noticeable, also, in the contouring of

drapery folds, better seen in the full-length figures shown in other plates; and

although the `anatomy' of drapery is seldom understood, taking into account that

these Bezeklik standing Buddha figures are greater than life-size, the command of

the brush by the artisan is remarkable. At the same time, it would seem that small

ornamental details, such as those in the haloes and garlands, were often entrusted

to less skilled hands probably young apprentices beginning their training.

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