Treatises on Painting in Sanskrit and Ancient Indian Mural Paintings -Theory and Practice-

阿旃陀石窟寺的壁画是典型的古印度绘画。与其他例子相比，可以肯定地说，阿旃陀壁画具有古印度壁画的共同品质。阿旃陀壁画包括早期洞穴壁画和晚期洞穴壁画。前者与后者在技巧和表现手法上有着明显的区别。根据表现手法的不同，后者又可分为两类，一类是第16、17等窟的壁画，另一类是第1、2等窟的壁画。在印度绘画史上，阿旃陀第16和17窟的绘画达到了顶峰。我们可以在那里看到画家对人物和动物形象的微妙观察。同样值得注意的是，阿旃陀壁画的画家以及后期的画家并没有给环境描绘足够的空间。另一方面，阿旃陀壁画在某种程度上与《维努达摩陀往世书》中关于绘画的论述相对应，而它包含了反映更晚时期绘画的描述。其编纂的年代是有争议的。尽管如此，它在某些方面仍然对研究古代印度绘画有用。

The murals of the cave temples at Ajanta are typical of the ancient Indian paintings. Compared with other examples, it is safely said that the ajanta murals have common qualities of the ancient Indian murals. The Ajanta murals consist of those in the early caves and in the late caves. The former can be sharply differentiated from the latter in respects of technique and representation. the latter can be further divided into two groups, the one formed of paintings in Caves 16, 17 and the like and the other formed of those in Caves 1, 2 and the like, on the basis of distinctions of representation. In the history of Indian painting, the culmination was attained by the paintings in caves 16 and 17 at Ajanta. We can see there the subtle observation of the painters in their human and animal figures. It is also noteworthy that the painters of the Ajanta murals as well as those of later periods did not give enough space to the environmental representation.On the other hand, the Ajanta murals correspond with the treatise on painting in the "Visnudharmottara-Purana" to some extent, whereas it contains descriptions reflecting paintings of much later times. The chronology of its compilation is controversial. Nevertheless it remains useful for studies of the ancient Indian paintings in some respects.