Shadows of Gods: An Archive and its images
French Institute, Pondicherry, 2016
Gopinath Sricandane
South Indian images of Gods, goddesses, Deities and saints occupy an ambivalent space in the contemporary world. Historians trained in the western discipline of Art History whose hallowed names include Ermin Panofsky and the Warburgh Institute concern themselves with the historical changes in the whole domain of art and its change over time. India defies such an approach to art history, as there is little change over nearly a millennium in the techniques, modes of depiction or style. Indian art seems to be extra territorial to history and therefore Indian Art History remains essentially a study of religion and its representation though sculpture, iconography and architecture. T A Gopinath Rao's monumental work, Elements of Hindu Iconography still remains the standard work, though it was published more than a century ago. The book under review is a welcome departure form the standard narratives of Indian art history.
The book was released during the state visit of the President of the Republic of France to India on the occasion of the Republic Day in January 2106.t consists of 15 short chapters which documents the alarming increase in cases of theft of Icons from temples, particularly Chola monuments in the Tamil region. There is an international market for stolen art and since the investigation and prosecution of criminals associated with art heist is rather weak in India, Subash Kapoor and the like have been able to flourish. It goes without saying that given the nexus between Government agencies and the International art galleries it is extremely difficult to bring art thieves to justice. Ironically USA has shown greater sincerity in pursuing cases of theft of Indian art objects than India. In fact, the initial investigation into the illegal trade of Subash Kapoor in stolen Indian art was undertaken by the FBI. The noted British scholar of Indian art, Douglas Barrett had pointed
out long ago that South Indian icons were disappearing from Temples at an alarming rate. UNESCO convention on the Restoration of stolen cultural property can be used successfully, but India has not developed the legal and the scientific means of authenticating the provenance of Indian artistic artifacts.
Unlike Europe where a rich tradition of documentation of art existed, India does not have a home grown tradition of Historiography. Pausanias, while he lamented the loss of Greek Independence to Rome, was also interested in documenting and describing the sanctuaries that he visited and described during the course of his travels on mainland Greece. His eye for detail and keen knowledge of local history allowed the historians of a later age to identify the sculptural pieces with great accuracy. India does not have a tradition of documenting its cultural treasures and in this the creation of the Archive of Sculpture and Iconography by the French Institute is an invaluable resource. The American Institute of Indian Studies at Varanasi has a similar archive but the access is so heavily restricted that India scholars find it difficult to get material from that Archive. The French archive was created by Francois Hernault, a researcher at the Institute of Indology which is part of the French Institute at Pondicherry. The repatriation of thr Puttur Bronze and the return of the Rockfeller Nataraja are two instances in which India successfully pressed its claims in a foreign court of law.
The French Institute has provided the legal basis for the identification of stolen art from South India as its photographic archive establishes provenance of the art and also establishes the probable date of its theft from India as the date when it entered the French register of icons is well known. This book is an interesting study of art at the border of law and history, legality and crime.
French Institute, Pondicherry, 2016
Gopinath Sricandane
South Indian images of Gods, goddesses, Deities and saints occupy an ambivalent space in the contemporary world. Historians trained in the western discipline of Art History whose hallowed names include Ermin Panofsky and the Warburgh Institute concern themselves with the historical changes in the whole domain of art and its change over time. India defies such an approach to art history, as there is little change over nearly a millennium in the techniques, modes of depiction or style. Indian art seems to be extra territorial to history and therefore Indian Art History remains essentially a study of religion and its representation though sculpture, iconography and architecture. T A Gopinath Rao's monumental work, Elements of Hindu Iconography still remains the standard work, though it was published more than a century ago. The book under review is a welcome departure form the standard narratives of Indian art history.
The book was released during the state visit of the President of the Republic of France to India on the occasion of the Republic Day in January 2106.t consists of 15 short chapters which documents the alarming increase in cases of theft of Icons from temples, particularly Chola monuments in the Tamil region. There is an international market for stolen art and since the investigation and prosecution of criminals associated with art heist is rather weak in India, Subash Kapoor and the like have been able to flourish. It goes without saying that given the nexus between Government agencies and the International art galleries it is extremely difficult to bring art thieves to justice. Ironically USA has shown greater sincerity in pursuing cases of theft of Indian art objects than India. In fact, the initial investigation into the illegal trade of Subash Kapoor in stolen Indian art was undertaken by the FBI. The noted British scholar of Indian art, Douglas Barrett had pointed
out long ago that South Indian icons were disappearing from Temples at an alarming rate. UNESCO convention on the Restoration of stolen cultural property can be used successfully, but India has not developed the legal and the scientific means of authenticating the provenance of Indian artistic artifacts.
The French Institute has provided the legal basis for the identification of stolen art from South India as its photographic archive establishes provenance of the art and also establishes the probable date of its theft from India as the date when it entered the French register of icons is well known. This book is an interesting study of art at the border of law and history, legality and crime.
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