3 Review(s)

About the Book:-Need we remark that, where religious art and archeology are the theme, literature and literary history cannot be far away? The author has commented upon the predominantly narrative character of the bas reliefs with which he is dealing: it may indeed be said that, apart from purely decorative figures and symbols, the great bulk of them are illustrations of scenes from the life of the Buddha. A history of Buddhist Art is a task for the future; may we someday have the pleasure of welcoming a systematic treatise upon the subject from the author’s own pen. For the present we are only at the commencement. Nothing guarantees us that in its beginnings the Art shall be found on a level with the doctrine, or that it shall follow a parallel course, or again that it shall develop with a proportional rapidity. This volume, originally written in French, is a collection of his essays and addresses in various serial and periodical publications. It contains nine informative essays on t