National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Difficulties
of photo-
graphing
frescoes.

Of the inscriptions it was easy to secure exact copies by means of tracings. But for the
frescoes I found it practically impossible at the time to obtain a record worthy of their artistic and
archaeological importance. Even a professional photographer, working with special plates and
appliances, might have found his skill taxed in the attempt to do justice to the harmonious, but
often faded or partially effaced, colours of these paintings under the conditions prevailing. For
an amateur like myself they were almost prohibitive. It was difficult enough to squeeze myself, in
the bulky fur kit rendered necessary by the bitter cold, into a position low and distant enough to
photograph a painted dado just above the floor and on the curving wall of a passage barely seven
feet wide. The violent winds rendered photography impossible for days, or else by the thick dust
haze raised made the light so poor that prolonged exposure was necessary, with increased risk of
the camera shaking in the gusts. The difficulty of securing satisfactory negatives was much
increased by the intense cold, which prevented development being done at night except at the risk
of the plate freezing in the tent. In order to reduce the risk of total failure, I laboriously took
several complete rounds of the frescoes with varying light and exposure. But when development
of the plates became possible some four months later, it showed that the record secured was far
from being adequate. As a result of this partial failure, it became necessary to strengthen in
places the photographic prints shown in Figs. 134–43 before they could be reproduced satisfactorily
through the 'half-tone' process. I was fortunately able to entrust this delicate task to the qualified
hand of my friend Mr. F. H. Andrews. Combining as he does the artist's eye and the critical
archaeologist's accuracy, his help affords full assurance that this 'touching up' was effected with
the utmost caution and has not interfered with the faithfulness of the reproductions.

Risks of
removing
frescoes.

It was a matter of keen regret for me at the time, and has become still more so since, that
I had no means of reproducing those fine paintings in colour. The alternative was to remove
them bodily from the walls. In spite of the reluctance I felt to the quasi-vandal proceeding of
cutting up a fresco composition like the frieze into panels of manageable size, I should have felt
bound to attempt it, had not a carefully-conducted experiment convinced me that, with the means
and time then at my disposal, the execution of such a plan would have implied grave risks of virtual
destruction. The plaster of the cella wall here differed materially from that in M. III. It consisted
of two distinct layers, of which the outer one was remarkably well finished and smooth, but only
about a quarter of an inch thick and exceedingly brittle. The inner layer, about an inch thick and
softer, had very little admixture of straw, and in consequence broke far more easily than the plaster
surface of M. III, which, uniform in surface and full of chopped reed straw, possessed more cohesion.
When I was, with the help of Naik Rām Singh, very carefully removing the Phrygian-capped putto
head M. v. x and the male portrait head M. v. vi (Plate XLIV) from the dado, I found it impossible
to prevent portions of the thin outer layer of plaster breaking off in fragments, as its backing of soft
mud plaster was being loosened from the wall.

Delay for
removal im-
possible.

So I reluctantly realized that there was here no hope of safely detaching any larger fresco
panels unless I could first have the brick-wall behind systematically cut away by a kind of sapping,
and special appliances made for first strengthening, and then lifting off, the curving panes of mud
stucco. It was certain that, even if somehow I succeeded in improvising appliances in my desert
camp devoid of all resources, it would necessitate the sacrifice of weeks to carry through such
difficult operations and to assure safe packing for transport over huge distances. A variety of
practical considerations, connected with the physical difficulties to be faced on the journey through
the Lop desert to Tun-huang and with the tasks ahead, made it clear that I could not safely delay
the start of my caravan, for the new field of work awaiting me far away in the east, beyond the
latter half of February. In my Personal Narrative I have fully explained the cogency of these