Lands of Asia layouts (Eng) 26.11.21

part ii | states
scene shows the goddess seated on a zoomorphic throne being approached by a
priest dressed in white with an infant child raised above his head, together with a
priestess with two infants in her arms. The meaning of the scene remains unclear, but
it clearly relates to some kind of religious ritual – perhaps the offering of the infants
to the goddess for blessing or for a ritual of sacrifice.
There is no unpainted space in the temple painting: the figures are all depicted on
a red background filled with plant tendrils and six-petalled flowers. The palette is quite
broad: black, blue, brown and yellow are all used. The skin of the infants and female
figures is painted in pale pink, while the male figures are red. The figures have fine
black outlines. An effect of three-dimensionality is achieved through the use of light
and shade and frequent red hatching at the edges of the outlines. The paintings have
an unusual style of portrayal: all the characters have expressive and finely traced faces,
but no attempt has been made at an anatomically correct reproduction of the hands
and fingers of the infants. It is possible that this was a deliberate attempt to convey an
inner state of their helplessness and total submission. The temple paintings are vibrant,
dynamic and expressive, and without the hieratic characteristics of religious art.
The entire composition is framed by ornamental borders with either a combination
of plant tendrils (two- or three-leaved) and geometric patterns (white circles on a
black background) or simple bands of red, black and brown. The upper part of the
wall of the room was decorated with alabaster paintings of a running wave motif that
was widespread in Hellenistic art.
Several frescoes have also been found in a room used for worship in a craftsman’s
house in Dalverzintepa. One of these is a scene with several figures and a horse with
a man standing next to it and women looking down at them from a two-tier balcony.
The whole scene may well be mythological.
The monumental painting of an enormous bird in one of the buildings at Zartepa
may also have mythological content.
Thus, while preserving Hellenistic features in the use of colour, technique, manner
and ornamental motifs, Kushan wall-paintings are filled with new content and artistic
styles.
Despite the small number of examples found, the paintings point to the existence
of a large and distinctive school of mural painting in Bactria, and its significant impact
on the development of painting in Khorezm and Serindia (Miran) is borne out by the
style and painterly techniques used.
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