Ajanta Cave paintings

Posted by Kaddy (Mumbai, India) on 18 January 2008 in Art & Design.

The special technique used by the painters in these cave paintings give a most remarkable feature to these paintings viz. their quality of glowing even in the poorly lit caves.

Unfinished and damaged paintings show that the stone walls were first coated with a mixture of potter's clay, cow-dung, animal hair etc. to a thickness of half to two inches. This raised surface was then smoothly plastered with fine white lime which was treated like a painting surface.

After first outlining the composition, the painter would then define the subjects with an undercoat of grey. After covering the whole surface as a finished painting with natural water soluble colors the painter would again give a last burnishing with a smooth stone to add that magnificent lusture characteristic to these paintings. In addition to the walls, the ceiling of Caves were also decorated with multiple panels of paintings depicting hundreds of animals.

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