Wall Paintings from Ancient Shrines in Central Asia : vol.1 / Page 46 (Color Image)

0046	Wall Paintings from Ancient Shrines in Central Asia : vol.1

brows are moderately arched and well separated; and although the mouth is very

firm, the division between the lips being a straight line, the hardness is modified by

the curved red lines of the lips and the dimples at the corners of the mouth. The

arrangement of the hair, partly broken away, is that of a boy, and although the

rippling lock in front of the ear is rather effeminate in its length, the fashion was

affected by men, as several examples here reproduced testify. The combination of

the boy's hair with the effeminate love-lock, may signify asexuality.

The winged figure rising from a festoon is often found in Gandhira sculptures,

and wings as an indication of the divine or super-human are of early incidence all

over the West, Middle East, Egypt, Persia, and China. The conception does not

seem to have extended to India excepting in the north-west, where it was probably

introduced from the West, but even here did not persist beyond the Gandhira or

Kusan period; nor did it continue in Chinese art.

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