The idea that gods and supernatural beings are either themselves luminous, or else surrounded by a luminous cloud, is constantly cropping out in the classical authors, Roman as well as Greek. ![]() Among these features may be mentioned the use of the halo, for both Christian and Buddhist art seem to be indebted to pagan Greece for the use of the halo to distinguish persons of peculiar sanctity. This art became conventionalized very early, and consequently many of the features which characterize it today date back directly to the period, two thousand years ago, when the influence of Greece was still predominant in the valley of the Indus. It is to this combination of Buddhist faith and Greek art in an obscure corner of India that the religious sculpture and painting of half Asia owe their origin. They adopted at the same time the religion which had been developed from the simple teachings of the Buddha. ![]() The successors of the great Alexander managed to retain their hold upon the eastern extremity of his empire-eastern Afghanistan and northwestern British India-for some generations after the death of the conqueror, In time this political domination was overthrown by invading tribes from Central Asia hut these, like the Romans before them, succumbed, in a measure at least, to the Greek standards of artistic beauty. Few, however, realize that the influence of Hellas, stereotyped by the bonds of religious conservatism and much attenuated but none the less real, made itself felt in the opposite direction, even to the utmost hounds of Asia and that, too, at a comparatively early date. The part played by ancient Greece in the development of art in Europe is matter of common knowledge. It will be the purpose of this paper to touch briefly upon some characteristics of Tibetan art, especially in so far as they are exemplified by the Tibetan paintings now on exhibition in the Museum. In regard to the way in which these are developed and depicted, as in most things pertaining to its material culture, Tibet has received a very strong impress from China. This applies in particular to the underlying principles and fundamentals. Nevertheless, Tibetan sacred painting has developed certain well-marked characteristics which put it in a class of its own, This is due in part to the circumstance that Buddhism, when it entered Tibet, incorporated within itself many of the primitive beliefs and practices of the native shamanistic cult which it found in possession of the country, and in part to the fact that in matters of faith Tibet is more deeply indebted to India than to China. ![]() Tibetan Sacred Painting showing Arhats and Lokapa’a. 1368-1644), when the simplicity of taste and the subordination of color to form, which had characterized the dynasty of “classic Sung,” were giving way to a more lavish use of pigment and a generally more elaborate and ornate style. As a matter of fact, indeed, especially in matters of technique, the religious art of Tibet is essentially that of China under the Ming rulers (A.D. little by which to distinguish the sacred paintings of Tibet from those of other Buddhist countries-China, Korea, or Japan. Illustrated By Two Tibetan Paintings In The Museum.
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