In southern India, two types of gesso art are predominantly found.
# The Mysore style
# The Tanjore style
Each is influenced by the other and thus evolved to where it is now. I wanted to post a comparison chart of the two traditional schools of classical Indian painting, compiled from all those Museum visits and learning.
Tanjore Traditional Art
|
Mysore Traditional Art
|
| Cloth base mounted on wood. | Paper base mounted on canvas or wood. |
| For gesso effects, raw lime powder with a tamarind seed paste used. |
White lead or Chalk Powder is used along with Arabic gum crystals.
|
| Gesso is applied in high relief | Gesso is applied in low relief |
| Gold coated silver wafers are used | Pure gold wafers are used |
| The coating is less durable | The gesso work is long lasting |
| Numerous other ingredients like Perl, Mirror, beads, sequins and amber is used for embellishing | Traditional works are devoid of such colorful decor. |
| Most depict scenes from Hindu mythologies specially Vishnu. | Dress and ornaments reflect period fashion with close resemblance to the Mysore kings. Architecture, designs closely resemble to the houses and palaces of Wodeyars. |
| The characters are not naive and detailed as that in Mysore Style. | Faces of common folk are shown round, while the faces of deities shown slightly elongated. |
| The paintings are mostly of Vishnu, his incarnations and characters that surround him. | The paintings mostly evolve around Shiva. |
picture: one of my Mysore Painting.
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