A Concise History of Indian Art

The grave, sensuous and infinitely varied arts of India have long been admired in the West; but until now there has been no concise, non-specialist guide to the subject as a whole. This Professor Craven has supplied. He tells the story clearly and vividly from the first, still mysterious, beginnings in the Indus valley, through the great masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu art to the coming of Islam, the eclectic culture of the Mughal court and the golden age of Indian miniature painting. Much of this art is immediately accessible to the outsider, but much is also enigmatic, needing interpretation and guidance before it can be enjoyed in depth: the strange pantheon of the Hindu gods, the subtle insights of Buddhist mysticism or the complex symbolism of the miniatures. No other country has such a long, unbroken artistic continuity, or such a diversity - reflecting as it does three of the world's great religions, and influences ranging from Western Europe to Asia.