Hariṣeṇa
A figure from the books
#Harishena
Hariṣeṇa · r. c. 475–500 CE
In the books · 1 chapter
Who this is
Emperor of the Vākāṭaka dynasty's Vatsagulma branch; presiding patron of the painted caves of Ajanta — the greatest surviving body of ancient Indian painting.
“The names on Ajanta's walls are all patrons — an emperor, a minister, a prince, a monk. The painters, among the greatest who ever lived anywhere, are anonymous to the last brushstroke — and the last brushstroke, quite possibly, was left hanging in mid-air.”
The big idea, in the book's words:
“Almost everything that survives of ancient India's painting survives on the walls of one gorge, painted by artists whose names nobody wrote down, under one emperor whose court paid for it — and when he died, the brushes stopped.”
From the book
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