114 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XV. 



Like the so-called " frescoes " at Ajanta, those of Sigiriya are 

 strictly paintings in tempera, that is, the pigments used were 

 mixed with some liquid vehicle and laid on a dry surface. 



The groundwork at Ajanta — 



Appears to be composed of cowdung, with an immixture of 

 pulverized trap, laid on the roughish surface of the rock to a thickness 

 varying from quarter to half inch. Over this ground was laid (the 

 intonaco of) thin, smooth plaster, about the thickness of an egg-shell, 

 upon which the painting was done.* 



At Sigiriya — and to support my examination I called in 

 the aid of the most skilled Sinhalese " sitiyaru " (painters) 

 from Nilagama, in the Matale District, the village upon 

 which has devolved for centuries the hereditary " service " 

 of renewing the paintings of the ancient cave vihares of 

 Dambulla — an analysis of the plaster showed a groundwork 

 of tempered earth and kaolin of a reddish brown hue and 

 \ in. in thickness, coated with at least two layers of white 

 chunam, \ to \ in. thick. The clay base, strengthened by 

 the admixture of " dahiydva" or paddy husk, and perhaps 

 shreds of cocoanut fibre, was first put on by hand, the 

 chunam coating being (as at the present day) smoothed 

 over it with a trowel. 



Only three pigments were used, yellow, red, and green,\ 

 though black seems to have been given a trial as background 

 to one figure, No. 14 ' B.' The particular shades of these 

 colours predominating the paintings may best be realized 

 from the modern corresponding media employed by Mr. 

 Perera in copying them, viz., chrome yellow, yellow ochre, 

 raw sienna, burnt sienna, raw umber, light red, Indian 

 red, sap green, terra vert, lamp black, and flake white. 



The entire omission of blue is very .remarkable, and 

 difficult to account for, as this colour enters freely into the 

 sister paintings at Ajanta. 



No one who chooses to carefully compare the Sigiriya 



* Ind, Ant., vol. II., 1873, p. 153. 



t " I tried in vain to detect green on the Slgiri frescoes " (Rhys Davids 

 loo. oit., p. 210). 



