The Making of a Visual Language 8 To see the metaphors of love-pangs m volume and weight might indicate cultural preferences shared by the literature of the time—for the spice of spoken language, perhaps 9 In the overproduced icons of Shrinathji, speed enabled the painter to incorporate changes It is not difficult to see that manual execution, i e images made by hand, leave room for these nuances small, subtle but not without an aesthetic import 32 10 Haldi—turmeric used in food, gaugoh—golden yellow extracted from the urine of a cow fed on mango flowers, pan—betel leaf, chuna—lime used as a paste m pan, relating to specific smells and tastes, hingul—a toxic with medicinal usage 11 The nomenclature of 'Sultanate' is erroneous on political and dubious on religious grounds The red-yellow schema formed part of the (Tubmgen) Hamzanama (and perhaps Sikandamama) as much as the Mirgavatas\d. Bhagavatapurana, whereas Chandayana was painted m both the schemes The entire corpus of work under discussion belonged to Sultanate times 12 (a) In classical north Indian music, rendering of a raga leaves room for the audience to associate 'individual' emotions, since its import is not exclusive to emotions per se (b) The practice of individually conjuring the image of a deity by every devotee m an empty house-shrine is known to be prevalent m parts of Southeast Asia 13 Researches of Qr R N Mishra and Dr Settar suggest that a large number of artists belonged to shudra caste See R N Mishra, Ancient Artists and Art Activity, Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, 1975, S Settar, Hoysala Temples, Kala Yatra Publications, 1992 14 The possibility of subversion lay m playing with the relative tilt of the hero-villain axis, that a devious configuration could upset 15 It has been suggested that drawing, colouring, finishing and the rendering of portraiture, animals or patterns was often done by different hands—at times on a single page See Gulammohammed Sheikh, Tradition m a Moment of Change, the Paintings of the Hamzanaina\ Indian Paintings Essays in Honour or Karl f Khandalavala, Laht Kala Akademi, 1995 16 Comparison with the mode of articulation of Ajanta, where delineation played a seminal role, would not be out of place here 17 Not unlike that of a Rasika, or Nagaraka that Kalidas and Vatsyayana (in Kamasutra) refer to respectively 18 The prince was known to be a womaniser 19 The figuration of the Company period and that of Ravi Varma stressed postures of body-types, other than the ones the figures represented, and hence looked awkward and artificial Portraits of models seated m chairs (initiated partially by photography and western habits) m the colonial times would often carry the discomfort of the sitter, their eyes, not attuned to meeting the gazes of onlookers, would look vacant Ravi Varma's figures, drawing upon conventions of a popular Parsi theatre, and in turn depending upon postures and gestures of western theatre, appeared endowed with physical sensuousness but short of the qualities of an indigenous body language In that sense, the change he effected m a tropical body language is the counterpoint of what Basawan did to an European image 20 Different space cells, devised from European and Persian prototypes of 'landscapes', used concurrently with the ones based on observations of specific sites lent some of the panoramic views of Akbamama and f^nwar-i-Suhayh such dimensions More characteristically, the dislocation of naturalistic perspective is visible m the Boat Scene by Miskin See Gulammohammed Sheikh, 'Coomaraswamy and Rajput Painting', Paroksa, 1984 21 Ettmghausen has commented on the painting of Christian images m the ceiling of the Palatine Chapel of Palermo by resident Arab artists, renowned for their excellence during the period of former Islamic rulers See his Arab Painting, Skira, 1977 22 Continued practice of the sharing of the sacred can be observed in the highly evocative religious imagery of the Bhagavatapurana and Ramayana painted by Sahibdm m Mewar 23 Or is it a transformation parallel to the process of maturity of an emperor who came close to a syncretic ideal at the end of the Hamza enterprise7 24 See, Gulammohammed Sheikh, 'Viewer's View, Looking at Pictures', Journal of Arts & Ideas, April-June 1983 foumal of Arts & Ideas