The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

388 CEYLON AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA
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sculpture that one might well mistake them for
works of actual Indian origin [318]. The
possibility of their having been carved by
imported craftsmen can of course not be disregarded.
The Buddha images that have been
found at Takeo and Prei Krabas have the same
gentle dehanchement and transparent sheathlike
robes as those which characterize the Gupta
Buddhas of Sarnath and some of the late Gupta
rock-cut images in Cave XIX at Ajanta.
One of the most beautiful examples of the
type is a specimen from northern Siam, now in
the Seattle Art Museum [319]. The head alone,
in the beautiful ordering of its parts, is one of
the loveliest in Buddhist art. The arching
swallow-wing eyebrows are made in conformity
with the injunction of the sastras, suggesting the
leaves of the neem tree as a metaphor for the
arched brows. The lotus-petal shape of the eyes
is echoed in the curve of the full lips. Body and
head alike have the simplicity and plastic
solidity of Gupta Buddhas, but the whole is
imbued with a new feeling of inner tension that
makes it a veritable emblem of serenity and
ecstasy.
Throughout the history of Cambodia we find
a continuous alternation, sometimes from reign
to reign, between Buddhism and Hinduism.
This is true of the very earliest period, and some
of the most remarkable pieces of sculpture in
Further Indian art date from one of these
periods of Hindu supremacy, presumably the
seventh century, when the kingdom of Funan
was divided, with one capital at Sambor.
The most often reproduced of these images
is a free-standing statue of Harihara from Prasat
318 {left). Buddha from Prei Krabas.
Phnom Penh, Musee Albert Sarrant
319. Buddha from northern Siam.
Seattle, Art Museum