A Handbook of Indian Art

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This handbook of Indian art was written by an eminent art historian who was a member of the Havell family of artists and art educators. The book is divided into three sections the first section on architecture deals with thought and life of India from Vedic times to modern Indian buildings, which laid the foundation of Indian civilization. The section on sculpture is on Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv and their Saktis, the Buddha, Trimurti and the lesser deities. The principles of Indian painting and characteristics of its principal schools are covered in the third section The book is profusely illustrated with an exhaustive Index. It's an asset for scholars as well as general readers and will assist all those who wish to penetrate deeper into religious thought of modern India.

THE speech of H.M. the King at the opening of the School of Oriental Studies in London, and the efforts now being made by the India Society to endow a permanent Lectureship in Indian Art at the School, suggest the need of a suitable handbook for the subject. Public interest in Indian art, both in India and in Europe, has increased greatly since I made the first attempt to explain its ideals and modes of expression in my Indian Sculpture and Painting, now out of print.

The present work, embracing architecture, sculpture, and painting in its scope, aims at giving such a concise survey of the whole subject, free from dry technicalities, as will interest both the student and general reader, and serve as a useful handbook for travellers in India. At the same time it attempts a solution of several interesting problems which have exercised the minds of archaeologists for many years, and gives the results of further researches in a field which still offers unlimited scope for the art student.

In this respect, therefore, it enlarges upon and sometimes revises the conclusions arrived at in my previous works. It may serve as the foundation of a full and competent history of fine art in India, which still remains to be written.