ous cortège surrounding the Bodhisattva comprises a host of divinities, among whom are recognizable Regents of the Quarters accompanied by their demon attendants.
The corresponding portion of a majestic procession is better preserved in what survives of the left side of the great painting. Here we see two noble figures of musicians marching with uplifted heads and playing on flute and mouth-organ (Fig. I I o) . The curving lines of their bodies and the floating loose garments convey a sense of rhythmic motion in harmony with the whole subject. Delighted absorption in the music is admirably expressed in the face of the flute player, while intent concentration is rendered with equal mastery in the look of the musician on the right.
In pictures like these of Buddhist Heavens and of celestial processions with their exquisite detail, delicate drawing and glowing animation of colour, we feel lifted into an atmosphere of divine peace, while at the same time we are enabled to enjoy the buoyant motion and floating strains of music which seem to pervade it. As with such sensations we take our leave of the specimens of Buddhist pictorial art as it was practised and gathered at this far-off cross-roads of innermost Asia, we realize what gratitude we owe to the fortunate chance which had preserved for us remains of that art in the hidden chapel of the Thousand Buddhas.
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