Page:A Handbook of Indian Art.djvu/329

Rh teachers which are still worshipped in Saiva temples together with the image of Nātārāja.

Two of such images which will bear comparison with the finest bronzes of the Renaissance in Europe are shown in Pl. LXVII. Fig. A is generally taken for the infant Krishna, but it lacks the royal crown which is almost invariably given to him: it most probably represents one of the Saiva teachers who, according to popular legends, began their mission in infancy. It has the fine sentiment and masterly plastic technique of the early Chola bronzes, of the period when the sculptor carried his wax model to the fullest point of perfection, and the casting was so skilfully done that very little retouching with the chasing tool was needed. In the later works of the school the casting was less perfect, and the sculptor relied on the metal-worker's tools for most of the surface finishing, so that the modelling is inclined to be more cold and formal.

The elegant pose and finished technique of Pl. LXVII,, might suggest that the unknown Chola sculptor had been influenced by the art of Europe were it not that he preceded the Italian Renaissance by several centuries. It is one of the images of Saiva Āchāryas, or spiritual teachers, worshipped in the great temple of Tanjore. The movement of the left arm is accounted for by the fact that the figure is posed as if leaning lightly on a sannyāsin's staff, which the sculptor intended to be wrought separately on account of the great difficulty of casting it in the same mould as the figure.

In some of the later South Indian temple sculpture, during the time when the Hindu kingdoms kept up