Ourselves

Summary

This editorial introduction situates the study of Jaina miniature painting—now widely termed the Western Indian style—within the history of Indian art and scholarship. It notes that before the publication of the Government of India’s Catalogue of Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Part IV, 1924) and subsequent studies, the style’s chronology and characteristics were poorly understood. The piece outlines how palm-leaf manuscripts gave way to paper, and how the style developed in Gujarat, Kathiawar, Rajasthan and Malwa, with later encounters with Rajput-Mughal conventions. It emphasizes the special iconography of Jinas, yakshas and yakshis, and the use of angular facial modelling, large almond eyes, and strong, contrasting colours. The editorial also underlines methodological concerns: reliance on dated colophons, stylistic comparison across museums, and the need to publish more colour plates and technical analyses (pigments, binders, supports). It foreshadows the themed contents of the issue—historical survey, aesthetics, materials, narrative retellings, bibliography and figure notes—arguing that a rounded view requires conjoining philology, art history and conservation science. In mapping this survey, the introduction stresses that Jain ateliers served both sectarian and broader literary markets, that artists were responsive to patronage and book formats, and that Western Indian painting merits its own internal periodization rather than being read as a derivative of northern “Rajput” schools. Finally, it invites further work on provenance, workshop practices and interregional exchange, setting the stage for the detailed essays that follow.