Oldest Surviving Paintings in India - 2nd-1st Century BC

[Shaitan]

In Ajanta Cave 10 holds the oldest surviving complex paintings in India, of the historic era. They are made by the early Satavahanas. You can compare the clothing, jewelry, etc. in these paintings to the reliefs of Sanchi, Bharhut, etc. of the same period.

 

[Shaitan]

 

[Shaitan]

Satavahana axe men, bowmen wearing tunics, with hair knots, some with turbans

Reconstructions of the original

 

[Shaitan]

Satavahana nobles, one with a naga turban.

 

[Pash]

Good work. Keep going

 

[Varun2002]

Some of those paintings are very impressive, specifically the facial portraits. How do these works compare with their contemporaries in Rome, Greece, Persia?

 

[Shaitan]

Some of those paintings are very impressive, specifically the facial portraits. How do these works compare with their contemporaries in Rome, Greece, Persia?

We dont know much of the Persian paintings. I prefer Greek paintings of the era or older, because their paintings generally have a lighter background if the makes sense, were as the the samples we have of ancient Indian art is mostly dark(pre 1st Century AD).

Never the less, there is a level of maturity reached by the painters of the Satavahana era.