User:Johnbod/Lining

sculpture in durable materials, or coins. There there was probably originally far more in wood, which is lost. In north India Mauryan art is the first imperial movement, and the Lion Capital of Ashoka from about 250 BCE is now India's national symbol.^[3] Over the following centuries a distinct Indian style of sculpting the human figure developed, with less interest in articulating precise anatomy than ancient Greek sculpture but showing smoothly-flowing forms expressing prana ("breath" or life-force).^[4] This is often complicated by the need to give figures multiple arms or heads, or represent different genders on the left and right of figures, as with the Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva and Parvati.^[5]

Ellora. Hindu and Jain sites appear rather later.^[7] In spite of this complex mixture of religious traditions, generally, the prevailing artistic style at any time and place has been shared by the major religious groups, and sculptors probably usually served all communities.^[8] Gupta art, at its peak between about 300 CE and 500 CE, is often regarded as a classical period whose influence lingered for many centuries after; it saw a new dominance of Hindu sculpture, as at the Elephanta Caves.^[9] Across the north, this became rather stiff and formulaic after about 800 CE, though rich with finely carved detail in the surrounds of statues.^[10] But in the South, under the Pallava and Chola dynasties, sculpture in both stone and bronze had a sustained period of great achievement; the large bronzes with Shiva as Nataraja have become an iconic symbol of India.^[11]

Calcutta, which later saw the Bengal School of Art, reflecting the art colleges founded by the British, the first movement in modern Indian painting.^[17]