1889.] 



on the Civilization of Ancient India. 



Both tho Buddhist variations show a general agreement with one 

 another, though differing considerably in detail. The posture of Maya 

 in the specimens figured in Plates 2 and 17 is singularly ungraceful aud 

 constrained. As some compensation for this defect her feet are so 

 treated as to suggest the notion that she is really being lifted from the 

 ground, and in this respect these examples are superior to the other 

 two, which altogether fail to convey the idea of upward motion. In 

 both varieties the female figure is fully draped. 



The substitution of a fat, round-cheeked, young Indian woman, 

 swathed in heavy drapery, for the nude form of Ganymede instinct with 

 the beauty of Greek youth, destroys all the aesthetic value of the com- 

 position, which is, in its Buddhist forms, devoid of life or elegance, and 

 far inferior to the worst Greece-Roman example. The conversion of a 

 Greek theme to their own uses by the Gandhara sculptors is more 

 readily demonstrated in the case of the Rape of Ganymede than in any 

 othor, but, unfortunately for their reputation, they were less successful 

 in dealing with this subject than almost any other which they attempted. 

 Probably it would be correct to say that a purely ideal subject was be- 

 yond their powers. 



A very curious panel in the Lahore Museum, of which a cast is 

 exhibited at South Kensington, has been differently interpreted by Sir 

 A. Cunningham and Dr. Leitner. 



The former describes it as a " portion of a largo sculpture, contain- 

 ing eleven figures. The three lower ones are soldiers armed with spears 

 aud shields ; but the rest, with their animal's heads, large mouths, and 

 sharp teeth, are probably intended for demons. As such they may have 

 formed part of the army which Mara brought to frighten Buddha during 

 his ascetic mediLation under the Bodhi tree." (Descriptive List, 538.) 



The three soldiers in the lower compartment, marching one behind 

 the other, are certainly not Indian in style or equipment. They are 

 Greek, not Roman warriors. Two of them carry long oval shields, the 

 shield of the third differs in shape, having a rectangular body, and 

 circular head, with narrow neck. Sir A. Cunningham's conjecture as 

 to the meaning of the composition fails to explain the presence of these 

 soldiers. 



Dr. Leitner, who has seen Buddhist masquerade processions in 

 Ladakh, informs me that he regards the monstrous forms in tho upper 

 part of the panel as intended to represent the masks of the "Vices in a 



in the Calcutta Museum, but tho Catalogue does not mention any such specimen. 

 G. 40, a sculpture ten inches high, scorns to deal with the same subject, although 

 Dr. Anderson does not recognize it. So large an objeot oau hardly have formed part 

 of a knob or plumo. 



