Shilappadikram (The Ankle Bracelet) by Prince Ilango Adigal; Alain DanilouReview by: Elizabeth S. RosenArtibus Asiae, Vol. 37, No. 1/2 (1975), pp. 148-150Published by: Artibus Asiae PublishersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3250226 .Accessed: 24/07/2014 05:33

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his calligraphy. However, by the time S6tatsu painted the Deer Scroll and the Lotus Scroll, he had already taken up the study of Kamakura and Muromachi period illustrated scrolls and was playing with pro- blems of color and space manipulation. K6etsu, on the other hand, was still enamored of the aesthetic of continuous motifs and flowing calligraphy; conse- quently he added a few motifs to fill in S6tatsu's care- fully considered voids. After the Lotus Scroll, the collaboration between Sotatsu and Koetsu ceased. Sotatsu went on to gain fame as a painter of bold, decorative screens depicting classical motifs in bright colors on gold grounds, and K6etsu retired to Taka- gamine, a plot of land northeast of Kyoto, given him by the Tokugawa Shogun Ieyasu where he lived for the rest of his life making tea bowls and copying classical Japanese and Chinese texts on papers de- corated by S6setsu, Sotatsu's successor in business, and his pupils. Thus it is clear that the two men did not share a single aesthetic sense, and there is no hard evidence to suggest that the production of these opulent gold and silver scrolls was intended as a con- scious act of protest against the political policies of the shogunate. Mizuo's treatment of Sotatsu too merits serious cri- ticism. Ignoring the scope and quality of Sotatsu's total production, the author concentrates on an explo- ration of why S6tatsu did not do genre painting which was unquestionably a lucrative form of artistic expres- sion in the early seventeenth century. Although few documentary references concerning S6tatsu have sur- vived - for example his birth and death dates are not known - there is enough information to reconstruct a fairly accurate idea of his artistic development. The picture which emerges from the documents and the extant works is that of a man who developed over a twenty year period from a commercial painter to a recognized artist executing commissions for the sho- gunate and the nobility. The process of his maturation as an artist is fascinating to study because of the tight logic of his move from one stage to another and the increasing skill and inventiveness he displayed in reworking themes from mediocre Muromachi copies of famous narrative scrolls into fans and large scale decorative paintings. Yet only the barest hint of this material appears in Mizuo's text. Similar criticism must be leveled at his treatment of Korin and Kenzan. Korin's Iris Screens in the Nezu Museum and his Red and White Plum Trees in the Atami Museum are mentioned on several occasions as

his calligraphy. However, by the time S6tatsu painted the Deer Scroll and the Lotus Scroll, he had already taken up the study of Kamakura and Muromachi period illustrated scrolls and was playing with pro- blems of color and space manipulation. K6etsu, on the other hand, was still enamored of the aesthetic of continuous motifs and flowing calligraphy; conse- quently he added a few motifs to fill in S6tatsu's care- fully considered voids. After the Lotus Scroll, the collaboration between Sotatsu and Koetsu ceased. Sotatsu went on to gain fame as a painter of bold, decorative screens depicting classical motifs in bright colors on gold grounds, and K6etsu retired to Taka- gamine, a plot of land northeast of Kyoto, given him by the Tokugawa Shogun Ieyasu where he lived for the rest of his life making tea bowls and copying classical Japanese and Chinese texts on papers de- corated by S6setsu, Sotatsu's successor in business, and his pupils. Thus it is clear that the two men did not share a single aesthetic sense, and there is no hard evidence to suggest that the production of these opulent gold and silver scrolls was intended as a con- scious act of protest against the political policies of the shogunate. Mizuo's treatment of Sotatsu too merits serious cri- ticism. Ignoring the scope and quality of Sotatsu's total production, the author concentrates on an explo- ration of why S6tatsu did not do genre painting which was unquestionably a lucrative form of artistic expres- sion in the early seventeenth century. Although few documentary references concerning S6tatsu have sur- vived - for example his birth and death dates are not known - there is enough information to reconstruct a fairly accurate idea of his artistic development. The picture which emerges from the documents and the extant works is that of a man who developed over a twenty year period from a commercial painter to a recognized artist executing commissions for the sho- gunate and the nobility. The process of his maturation as an artist is fascinating to study because of the tight logic of his move from one stage to another and the increasing skill and inventiveness he displayed in reworking themes from mediocre Muromachi copies of famous narrative scrolls into fans and large scale decorative paintings. Yet only the barest hint of this material appears in Mizuo's text. Similar criticism must be leveled at his treatment of Korin and Kenzan. Korin's Iris Screens in the Nezu Museum and his Red and White Plum Trees in the Atami Museum are mentioned on several occasions as

though they were in every way comparable works with no distinction made between the light, decorative character of the former, thought to be a work of Korin's early period, I697-I703, and the tension of the latter, dated by Yamane to his late period, 17 11 to 1716. In Mizuo's discussion of Kenzan the question of the authenticity of the Sano find of ceramics is raised. This group of works came to light in 96I and for a while caused considerable controversy in Japa- nese art circles. The circumstances of the find are well presented in Bernard Leach's book Kenzan. Leach at the time felt the works to be authentic, and Mizuo, who served as his assistant, reading and interpreting documents for him, seconded his opinion. However, it must be remembered that Mizuo's original Japanese text on which the present English edition is based was published in i965. Since then chemical analyses of the glazes on some of the Sano pieces suggest that they may be modern forgeries. Yet this section of the book was translated and published without revision or even a footnote regarding the studies made between I965 and the present and the author's opinion of them. Considering the critical need for English language materials felt by those of us who teach Japanese art history to a non-Japanese-reading audience, one can- not help but be profoundly disappointed by Edo Painting: Sotatsu and Korin. The plates are beautifully reproduced. The translation by John M. Shields, while not without errors - Namban, the Southern Barba- rians or Portuguese, is translated as "from the south" and meito, a famous sword, is rendered as a shining sword - is on the whole quite accurate and even manages to capture the flavor of the original text. It is precisely there, in the original text, that the weakness of the book lies. No amount of effort spent on careful translation and editing or money expended on the reproduction of numerous full color plates can turn a superficial, popularizing text into serious but readable scholarship. Western students and amateurs of Japa- nese art can handle and deserve better art historical commentary than what they receive in this book. New York University Penelope Mason

Prince Ilango Adigal, Shilappadikaram (The Ankle Bra- celet), translated by Alain Danielou, New Directions Publishing Corporation, New York, I9 6, hardbound edi- tion, $ I.oo, paperback, $ I.6j; also George Allen e Unwin, Ltd., London, I967, 2II pp., 2f s. Alain Danielou has translated one of the most vivid accounts of ancient life in South India, including de-

though they were in every way comparable works with no distinction made between the light, decorative character of the former, thought to be a work of Korin's early period, I697-I703, and the tension of the latter, dated by Yamane to his late period, 17 11 to 1716. In Mizuo's discussion of Kenzan the question of the authenticity of the Sano find of ceramics is raised. This group of works came to light in 96I and for a while caused considerable controversy in Japa- nese art circles. The circumstances of the find are well presented in Bernard Leach's book Kenzan. Leach at the time felt the works to be authentic, and Mizuo, who served as his assistant, reading and interpreting documents for him, seconded his opinion. However, it must be remembered that Mizuo's original Japanese text on which the present English edition is based was published in i965. Since then chemical analyses of the glazes on some of the Sano pieces suggest that they may be modern forgeries. Yet this section of the book was translated and published without revision or even a footnote regarding the studies made between I965 and the present and the author's opinion of them. Considering the critical need for English language materials felt by those of us who teach Japanese art history to a non-Japanese-reading audience, one can- not help but be profoundly disappointed by Edo Painting: Sotatsu and Korin. The plates are beautifully reproduced. The translation by John M. Shields, while not without errors - Namban, the Southern Barba- rians or Portuguese, is translated as "from the south" and meito, a famous sword, is rendered as a shining sword - is on the whole quite accurate and even manages to capture the flavor of the original text. It is precisely there, in the original text, that the weakness of the book lies. No amount of effort spent on careful translation and editing or money expended on the reproduction of numerous full color plates can turn a superficial, popularizing text into serious but readable scholarship. Western students and amateurs of Japa- nese art can handle and deserve better art historical commentary than what they receive in this book. New York University Penelope Mason

Prince Ilango Adigal, Shilappadikaram (The Ankle Bra- celet), translated by Alain Danielou, New Directions Publishing Corporation, New York, I9 6, hardbound edi- tion, $ I.oo, paperback, $ I.6j; also George Allen e Unwin, Ltd., London, I967, 2II pp., 2f s. Alain Danielou has translated one of the most vivid accounts of ancient life in South India, including de-

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scriptions of bustling village streets, of ancient dances, drama, and music, of various forms of worship, and of ancient temples. The novel was written in Tamil, traditionally by a Jain Prince, Ilango Adigal, who refers to himself as the brother of the Chera King, Shenguttuvan, who ruled over the west coast of South India at the end of the second or the beginning of the third century A.D. The story tells of the marriage of the lovely young maiden Kannaki from Puhir, capital of the ancient Chola Kingdom, to handsome Kovalan from the same city. Kovalan strays from Kannaki to enjoy the plea- sures of the courtesan Madhivi, but he eventually re- turns to his faithful wife. The two of them journey to Madurai, capital of the Panidyas, to seek their fortune. Due to his unfortunate karma, Kovalan is unexpect- edly killed soon after their arrival. His wife, overcome with grief, wills the destruction of Madurai and even- tually becomes worshipped as the Goddess of Faith- fulness. After a long journey to the north to acquire a proper stone, an image of her is installed within a temple at Vanji, capital of the Chera Kingdom, by King Shenguttuvan. The text is mainly an ode to Kannaki, the virtuous and charitable woman. We may recall that the major edifices of the third century site of Nagarjunakonda, which is just north of the three Tamil kingdoms, were constructed through charitable efforts of women. These edifices were mostly Buddhist, although they were donated by women whose husbands were fol- lowers of the Hindu faith and built temples to Shaivite and Vaishnavite deities. Although one tends to view Indian religions in sectarian terms, both the remains of Nagarjunakonda and Prince Ilango Adigal's Shilap- padikaram show us a life in which Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains were able to live side by side incorporating each other's beliefs into their own. In Canto XXVII, we learn that the parents of Kovalan were Buddhists, while those of Kannaki embraced the Ajivika faith. Their marriage was performed around the sacred fire according to Aryan rites. Throughout the text, we find references to Surya, Chandra, and Indra. The entire Canto V is devoted to the festival of Indra, which takes place in the ancient city of Puhir. The festivities begin at the temple of the white elephant [Airavata, the mount of Indra], and they continue "in the temples of Unborn Shiva, of Murugan [Karttikeya] the beauteous god of Youth, of nacre white Valiyon, brother of Krishna, of dark Vishnu called Nediyon, and of Indra himself, with his

strings of pearls and his victorious parasol". Vedic rituals are performed and stories from the Puranas are told, while temples of the Jains and their charitable institutions can be seen about the city. There is also a description of a tall polished monolith, where "men driven mad by an excess of drugs, paralyzed by poi- son, bitten by sharp toothed snakes, or possessed by ghosts found instant relief by walking round it". Shaivite deities and various aspects and dances of Shiva are vividly described. Curiously, the dance of Shiva does not appear in sculpture before the middle of the sixth century A.D. in Cave I at Badami. The dance of Ardhanarisvara is also described. Images of Ardhanarisvara which are contemporary with the reign of King Shenguttuvan are known in Mathura, but these are not of the dancing type. Other dances portrayed in the text relate to Murugan (Karttikeya), and to Durga, as well as to Krishna, Kamadeva, and Lakshmi. An unexpected deity who appears in the text is the goddess Kali. In Canto X, Kannaki and Kovalan are seen walking around a temple sacred to Vishnu reclining on Ananta, and past a five pillared hall where saints taught the Law of Dharma "that the Buddha revealed when he preached under the tree of wisdom, whose five bran- ches point toward the sky as symbols of knowledge". Another temple mentioned is that where the kalpaka or "tree of ages" is worshipped. Aside from the deities already cited, a few other gods, as well as the names of numerous historic personages, geographic locations, and literary references can be found throughout the text. Many of these are difficult to identify through use of standard iconographic sources. In this regard, one should consult an earlier translation of the Shilappadikaram by V.R.Rama- chandra Dikshitar (Oxford University Press, I939). Both Danielou's translation and Dikshitar's are based on the Tamil edition by Dr. V. Swaminatha Aiyar so that the two may be easily compared. Dikshitar's translation bears a long historical introduction, is ex- tensively footnoted, and indexed. For example, he helps to identify the god Arivan, born of himself, as the Nayanir enshrined in the Jain temple at Uraiyar. The frequently named South Indian god Shittan (also known as Sasta or Hariharaputra) is identified as the son of Shiva and Mohini (Vishnu disguised as a beautiful woman). Dikshitar clarifies for us that in Canto XII, the various aspects of the goddess Aiyai (Korravai) are Lakshmi, Saraswati, Parvati, and Durga. Most important, though, Dikshitar identifies Kannaki,

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the Goddess of Faithfulness as Pattini Devi, also known as the guardian of female chastity. Her cult is known to have begun in India around the time of King Shenguttuvan and, as we learn in the appendix to the story, a temple to her was built on the island of Ceylon by King Gajabahu, a contemporary of Shenguttuvan. Her cult still flourishes in South India and Ceylon and is known to art historians primarily through a Sinhalese bronze image in the British Mu- seum (Ananda Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art, London, 1927, P1.C, Fig. 300). Although many aspects of the story of the Shilappa- dikaram are consistent with our understanding of South India in the second and third centuries A.D., Tamil scholars have pointed to certain passages of the text as being faithful quotes from Tamil works of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. They have therefore con- sidered that these are later interpolations into an ear- lier work. However, a study of the text by Kamil Zvelebil (MAHFIL, IV, 3-4, Spring and Summer I968, pp. i-I2) points out that the linguistic style of the text is consistent throughout. Although an early date seems to be accurate for the events of the story, the writing of the story seems to belong to a period between the end of the fifth and the beginning of the seventh centuries. In the text, Ilango Adigal identifies himself as the brother of King Shenguttuvan. Zvele- bil suggests that this may be a bit of poetic fantasy, practised perhaps by a later member of the Chera Dy- nasty recalling earlier events. This interpretation might help to explain the inclusion of certain iconographic forms such as Kali, which are generally considered late comers in the history of Indian iconography. Institute of Fine Arts EliZabeth S. Rosen

Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, edited by Richard Ettinghausen, New York, I972. 334 PP, 376 figures. The celebrations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's centennial offer an opportunity to assess the art histo- rical research undertaken at this time in the field of Islamic art. The welcomed volume edited by Richard Ettinghausen includes a series of twenty-two articles by specialists from three continents. Ettinghausen's introduction Almost one hundredjears ago, recalls the building up of the Islamic collection in the Museum to a stage when, in I932, it warranted a full time curator in the person of M. S.Dimand. It also under- lines the fact that the collection is the most complete and representative in the world, no mean achievement

the Goddess of Faithfulness as Pattini Devi, also known as the guardian of female chastity. Her cult is known to have begun in India around the time of King Shenguttuvan and, as we learn in the appendix to the story, a temple to her was built on the island of Ceylon by King Gajabahu, a contemporary of Shenguttuvan. Her cult still flourishes in South India and Ceylon and is known to art historians primarily through a Sinhalese bronze image in the British Mu- seum (Ananda Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art, London, 1927, P1.C, Fig. 300). Although many aspects of the story of the Shilappa- dikaram are consistent with our understanding of South India in the second and third centuries A.D., Tamil scholars have pointed to certain passages of the text as being faithful quotes from Tamil works of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. They have therefore con- sidered that these are later interpolations into an ear- lier work. However, a study of the text by Kamil Zvelebil (MAHFIL, IV, 3-4, Spring and Summer I968, pp. i-I2) points out that the linguistic style of the text is consistent throughout. Although an early date seems to be accurate for the events of the story, the writing of the story seems to belong to a period between the end of the fifth and the beginning of the seventh centuries. In the text, Ilango Adigal identifies himself as the brother of King Shenguttuvan. Zvele- bil suggests that this may be a bit of poetic fantasy, practised perhaps by a later member of the Chera Dy- nasty recalling earlier events. This interpretation might help to explain the inclusion of certain iconographic forms such as Kali, which are generally considered late comers in the history of Indian iconography. Institute of Fine Arts EliZabeth S. Rosen

Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, edited by Richard Ettinghausen, New York, I972. 334 PP, 376 figures. The celebrations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's centennial offer an opportunity to assess the art histo- rical research undertaken at this time in the field of Islamic art. The welcomed volume edited by Richard Ettinghausen includes a series of twenty-two articles by specialists from three continents. Ettinghausen's introduction Almost one hundredjears ago, recalls the building up of the Islamic collection in the Museum to a stage when, in I932, it warranted a full time curator in the person of M. S.Dimand. It also under- lines the fact that the collection is the most complete and representative in the world, no mean achievement

if one considers the short span of time during which most of the material has been assembled. A review of fift,yyears' development printed on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Museum in i920, makes no mention of Islamic Art per se. In his introduction, Ettinghausen explains the interest in Near Eastern art through the attention given to these regions by nineteenth century painters, well represented in the Museum collections. A further explanation could be the evolution in politics and taste which in turn kindled the imagination of the painter. The Turkish threat, so well illustrated by N.St.Clair, in the last article, had receded into the world of operas by Mozart and Rossini. By the turn of the eighteenth century, three major events in- fluenced the general interest away from neoclassicism engendered originally by the rediscovery of Hercu- laneum in I 711: first, the French expedition to Egypt lead by Bonaparte in I 798 and the creation ofl'Institut d'Egypte the same year, which produced from I 809 to

822 the Description d'Lgypte in twenty volumes; then the series of wars leading to the independence of Greece in I829; and finally the conquest of Algeria by the French in I830. Within thirty years, the Eastern Mediterranean world and Islam were made even more tangible than the countries conjured up by the Lettres persanes of Montesquieu in I721 and the East Indian companies of the eighteenth century. In his lifetime Delacroix (I798-1863) led the way and influenced less well-known artists in the first half of the nineteenth century. At one stage of their careers, each took a journey to the western part of the Islamic world. In his Journal Delacroix himself explains the essence of that world and its people as he experienced it during his visit to Morocco in I832: Ils sont plus pres de la nature de mille manieres. Works by Decamps, Frere and Vernet, presumably Horace, illustrate the introduction; in some way they caught the atmosphere of unknown ways of life and now help to recreate a vanishing world in the Museum's collections. Carrying one step further than his eighteenth century father on the Grand Tour, the enlightened traveller followed in the path of the men of science, the soldiers and the painters: he would have brought home colour- ful clothes, luscious textiles, jewellery, carpets and metalwork; the collection in the Cannes museum illustrates well this kind of collecting. Only later in the nineteenth century, manuscripts, ceramics and glass attracted the casual collector, more often than not assisted by enlightened dealers. Even a Duveen,

if one considers the short span of time during which most of the material has been assembled. A review of fift,yyears' development printed on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Museum in i920, makes no mention of Islamic Art per se. In his introduction, Ettinghausen explains the interest in Near Eastern art through the attention given to these regions by nineteenth century painters, well represented in the Museum collections. A further explanation could be the evolution in politics and taste which in turn kindled the imagination of the painter. The Turkish threat, so well illustrated by N.St.Clair, in the last article, had receded into the world of operas by Mozart and Rossini. By the turn of the eighteenth century, three major events in- fluenced the general interest away from neoclassicism engendered originally by the rediscovery of Hercu- laneum in I 711: first, the French expedition to Egypt lead by Bonaparte in I 798 and the creation ofl'Institut d'Egypte the same year, which produced from I 809 to

822 the Description d'Lgypte in twenty volumes; then the series of wars leading to the independence of Greece in I829; and finally the conquest of Algeria by the French in I830. Within thirty years, the Eastern Mediterranean world and Islam were made even more tangible than the countries conjured up by the Lettres persanes of Montesquieu in I721 and the East Indian companies of the eighteenth century. In his lifetime Delacroix (I798-1863) led the way and influenced less well-known artists in the first half of the nineteenth century. At one stage of their careers, each took a journey to the western part of the Islamic world. In his Journal Delacroix himself explains the essence of that world and its people as he experienced it during his visit to Morocco in I832: Ils sont plus pres de la nature de mille manieres. Works by Decamps, Frere and Vernet, presumably Horace, illustrate the introduction; in some way they caught the atmosphere of unknown ways of life and now help to recreate a vanishing world in the Museum's collections. Carrying one step further than his eighteenth century father on the Grand Tour, the enlightened traveller followed in the path of the men of science, the soldiers and the painters: he would have brought home colour- ful clothes, luscious textiles, jewellery, carpets and metalwork; the collection in the Cannes museum illustrates well this kind of collecting. Only later in the nineteenth century, manuscripts, ceramics and glass attracted the casual collector, more often than not assisted by enlightened dealers. Even a Duveen,

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Article Contentsp.148p.149p.150

Issue Table of ContentsArtibus Asiae, Vol. 37, No. 1/2 (1975), pp. 1-164Volume InformationFront Matter [pp.1-3]Li Sung and Some Aspects of Southern Sung Figure Painting [pp.5-38]Brief Survey of Early Chinese Glazed Wares [pp.39-52]Meditations on a Black Sun. Speculations on Illusionist Tendencies in T'ang Painting Based on Chemical Changes in Pigments [pp.53-60]Kunst im Ln N Thai (5): Die Glocke in der Hhle bei Chiang Do [pp.61-74]Propitious-Apotropaic Eroticism in the Art of Orissa [pp.75-100]A uga Capital from Vidi [pp.101-104]A Dhyna-Yoga Maheamrti, and Some Reflections on the Iconography of the Maheamrti-Images [pp.105-120]Bibliographiauntitled [pp.121-124]untitled [pp.124-128]untitled [pp.128-132]untitled [pp.132-134]untitled [pp.134-135]untitled [pp.135-139]untitled [pp.139-142]untitled [pp.142-145]untitled [pp.145-146]untitled [pp.146-148]untitled [pp.148-150]untitled [pp.150-162]untitled [p.162]untitled [pp.162-163]

Back Matter [pp.164-164]