Some Indian Myths on the Origin of Painting

The Citrasūtra of the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa and the Citralakṣaṇa of Nagnajit recount some intriguing myths on the origin of painting. In the Citrasūtra, the first painting gives birth to the famous nymph Urvaśī; in the Citralakṣaṇa painting appears on earth as the medium for restoring the dead son of a Brahman to life, while in another myth this art begins with images of the gods depicted to be worshipped. Many aspects of the ancient Indian attitude towards visual arts emerge from these texts: the reputed divine origin of the arts itself; the way nature is imitated; religious purposes; the crucial role of the eyes in connoting life; and especially, the magic or creative powers ascribed to the artist. This last belief, the origins of which have to be seen in the most remote antiquity, is attested in many cultures, besides having an extremely long, important and variegate history in the West.