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

is difficult to show all the technical details of procedure such as, for instance, the

red line along the edge of the black hair to soften the harshness of contrast with the

flesh. The eyebrows, although seeming to be drawn in one line, have, often, two

other lines under the black, one pale red and one grey or blue, both rather broader

than the final black, and so appearing on each side of it, softening its sharpness.

Bez. iii. W—Y

This comes from the south-west end of the corridor, all the left-hand side being

missing excepting a small piece at the top. The Buddha stands in a teaching or

arguing pose (vítarka-mudră), each foot resting on a separate lotus. His head is

inclined slightly downwards, as he seems to address the regal person kneeling on

one knee before him. The hair, dull blue, has a small white jewel, outlined with

red, at the base of the tall usnisa. He wears the usual costume and a long garland

of a pattern different from that in Bez. iii. N, O. The field of the vesica, green, is

plain, as is that of the red nimbus, but both are richly bordered. The broad outer

border is peculiar, consisting of the repetition of a wing-like form made up of

rows of petal-like feathers in a changing arrangement of colours delicately con-

toured with white. The treatment of the colours in definite bands is Chinese, but

the wing form suggests Sasanian derivation. Similar wings were worn on the

helmets of Sasanian monarchs, as shown in coins and in the rock sculptures of

Persia. They occur also on the heads of persons in the crowd of mourners in Bez.

xi. A—C, plate xx, who have a distinctly Persian appearance.

On the chocolate-colour ground of the border, in the spaces between the wings,

there are little bright red flame-palmettes outlined with white.

Unlike the Gandhára and Ajanta representations of the Buddha, most of those

of Bezeklik wear sandals, as here. Delightfully drawn, as are the lotuses under the

feet, they show slight regard for nature.

The kneeling figure in warrior's dress may be a donor or one of the many per-

sons of rank and wealth that followed the Master. The female behind him is

perhaps the warrior's consort. Both are gorgeously dressed and the details of their

costumes are very interesting. The ornate shoes of the man have been referred to

under Bez. iii. N, O, and there is a very strange type of footgear worn by the

consort, visible just to the right of the warrior's left elbow. It presents a kind of

imbricated pattern in red on a white ground, and may be a form of plaiting or

quilting. The same material is worn by the Dákini figure, Bez. v. I, plate xxi.

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