No. 57.— 1906.] 



SINHALESE ART. 



77 



be seen later that a form almost indistinguishable from this is 

 derived from a conventional arrangement of lotus leaves or 

 petals (palmette) (see figs. 7, 9, 11, &c., and PI. I., figs. 1 and 

 2), but these are arranged symmetrically about a central 

 upright line, while the cobra-forms are forms found in a 

 continuous series of similarly oriented elements (see figs. 4-6 

 and PL I., fig. 3B). 



If now we compare the Bharhut sculptures and the Kandyan 

 paintings as regards style and treatment of the subject matter, 

 we shall find that the conventions of the ancient and modern 

 artists are close akin. The ancient method of 4 ' continuous 

 narration" is equally characteristic of each, i.e., the story is told 

 hy repeating the same characters again and again in the same 

 picture or panel, performing successively the actions proper 

 to the story. The whole picture also is brought into one plane, 

 and there is little or no attempt at perspective. A delight 

 in almost microscopic detail, as for example in the 

 delineation of costume, feathers on birds, and the like, is 

 apparent in both schools. The representation of trees 

 is very characteristic ; the sculptured trees of Bharhut and 

 the painted trees of the Kandyan vihara have much in common. 

 In both cases the tree is unmistakable — not by reason of 

 a naturalistic realism, but in consequence of the prominence 

 given to the distinguishing features, the emphasis laid, 

 as it were, upon the ideal form of the tree. It is not any par- 

 ticular tree that is drawn or carved, but a representation of the 

 generalized image of the tree in the artist's mind, based on pre- 

 vious impressions gathered almost unconsciously from many 

 such trees seen by the artist. It is difficult to imagine the artist 

 drawing direct from the model, human or vegetable ; his style 

 is traditional and conventional and represents, not individual 

 things, but the notion of such things in general formed in the 

 artist's mind. The human interest of such work is very great , 

 we see the world through the very eyes of the Bharhut and 

 Kandyan people in a way that no impersonal and realistic 

 representation would enable us to do. After all, this is the 



