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Wall Paintings from Ancient Shrines in Central Asia : vol.1 |
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PLATE XXXI
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PAINTINGS FROM BEZEKLIK
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Bez. xiii. B
FROM the south wall of cella. A celestial figure—apsara--descends on very decorative clouds, her arms upraised and flowing draperies streaming backwards as she floats swiftly down. No wings control her flight. Aerial figures of human form are rarely, if ever, furnished with wings in Indian and Chinese
medieval art, unless under influence from the West. The only examples in the
paintings of this collection are the `angel' heads of Mirán (plates z and iii), and
these conform with the Gandhára practice and so may be considered as influenced
by Western convention. It is true that Garuda is given wings; but he is a bird, and
if often given a human body, in that incarnation presents but an inversion of the
principle.
Oxidization has disfigured the face of the apsara, and other parts of the picture
have suffered from abrasion and flaking. The long under-robe is pale pink, the upper
robe dull red trimmed with blue; the long stoles and sashes pale pink and blue.
The folds or pleats of the sleeves on the forearms are similar to those of the Minis
on plates xx and xxi. Below the apsara the rolling clouds are designed with true
Chinese fancy, in which the vapoury masses are gathered into floral forms, in
colour reflecting that of the draperies; and adapted as a repeating band of ornament,
now very fragmentary, between the two discoloured bands above. These two
bands seem to have been varnished to make the surface sufficiently hard to bear
the pressure of some kind of broad-tipped qalam with which the inscription in very
formal Bráhmi characters has been written. The background to the apsara is dull
pinkish-red.
II
II
Bez. xiv. A–D
This painting is from the north wall of the cella and, if the scale of the plan is
correct, it extended the entire length of the wall.
For convenience of description the picture may be considered as divided into
four vertical sections. Of these, that on the left seems to be related to some scheme
farther in that direction, perhaps on the `return' wall at the west end of the cella.
It portrays two Nágarájás wading in the waters of a lotus lake contained between
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