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0743 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1 / Page 743 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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CH. XLIII BUSTS OF GIRLS AND YOUTHS   483

jewelry to which Indian manhood of high rank has always been prone, as the relievos of Gandhara abundantly show us. An ample cloak of light green was thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the rest of the breast bare. The right hand appeared to raise a fruit which by its shape suggested a pomegranate.

The next pair of busts by their strikingly Western look carried me far away from India. Beyond a wingless amorino there showed first the portrait of a young girl, carrying in graceful pose on her left shoulder a narrow-necked jug of transparent ware and in her right hand a patera (Fig. 148). In her delicate face Greek features seemed to mingle strangely with others which called up a Levantine or Circassian type of beauty. To the Near East or Iran pointed the white turban which, trimmed with a red band and held by a large black knot on the right, rested on the rich black hair. From the latter descended long ringlets in front of the ears, while a fringe of hair came down on the forehead decorated with three bead strings of coral. The ears bore graceful pendants in pink. A close-fitting vest with sleeves in a deep red brown covered breast and shoulders, and from the headdress there hung a veil of a delicate pale green.

What a startling apparition of beauty and grace it all seemed in this desolate ruin ! But strange it was, too, to find this fair portrait balanced on the opposite side by that of a male head of a type distinctly Roman (Fig. 148). It was the head of a young man, with a broad low forehead and square jaws. The strongly built face was clean shaven, close-cropped black hair covering the head. The dress, a dark red coat with a pale green cloak thrown over the right shoulder, had faded badly. But across the breast I could still make out the right hand raised in the peculiar pose which suggested a player at

Mora,' with the second and fifth fingers outstretched and the two between turned downwards.

Beyond this portrait the frescoed surface had suffered too much to show more than the outlines of heads and Putti, even where the wall still stood to the height of the dado. But just close to where the breach in the western