Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 11. (Budapest, 1991)

RENNER Zsuzsanna: Baktay Ervin, mint művészettörténész és muzeológus

having a positive, male content while the West-East one has a negative, female content. On the seal, the opposition is expressed by the struggle between the lion and the bull. In astral symbolism, the tree stands for the Milky Way, spanning over the sky roughly between the signs of the Bull and the Scorpion and emphasizing the West-East axis. That is why the tree is placed behind the Bull-Venus on the seal. Another well-known seal shows a human figure in yoga posture whose three faces suggest his being a deity. (Plate 2.) His hair, decorated with horns on both sides, reminds one to the later hairstyle of Shiva. There are animals around the figure. This image carries the germs of Shivasymbolism, fully developed one and half millennia later, where Shiva as Yogeshvara is the par excellence yogi, the „Lord of Yoga", while as Pashupati he is the „Lord of Animals". The bull-aspect is also inseparable from him as his vehicle is the Nandi bull; what's more, as Nandishvara he is represented with a bull head. His half malehalf female form (Ardhanari) can be related to the figure on the first seal (Plate 2.) with bull horns and female breast. He in also characterized by the phallic cult which goes back to the Indus-valley culture as testified by numerous Ungarns found on Indus-valley sites. Considering all this, Baktay arrived at the conclusion that the central figure of the Indus-valley religion must have been a deity whose characteristic features were later inherited by a Brahmanical deity of Vedic (Aryan) origin. Writing about Hindu mythology, he called attention several times to the transmission of the elements of Indus-valley culture to Brahmanism and Hinduism and to the survival of astral symbolism in these later religious systems. In astral symbolism, Shiva is the embodiment of the Bull's opposite, the Scorpion since the Scorpion is presided by Mars, that is, the creator or the Progenitor who is venerated in the phallic cult among others. At the same time, Shiva's female counterpart Durga stands for the Venus or the „Universal Mother", the presiding sign of the opposite pole, the Bull. The relationship of the Mediterranean world and the East has long been a subject of research. Baktay's theory concerning Indus-valley seals could have been an early and remarkable addition to the exploration of the problem had it become known in international scholarly circles. This, however, failed to happen, although the Art of India was published in German in 1963. Baktay had only one opportunity to set forth his theory abroad when he was invited to the London School of Oriental and African Studies in May 1962 to give a series of lectures on different questions concerning Indian art. By a genuine observation, Baktay draw a parallel between the reliefs of the stupa of Amaravali and the frescoes of Ajanta. It was the painter's peculiar way of looking at things that was needed to see the graphic if not painting-like character of Amaravati sculpture. Studying the compositions of Amaravati reliefs, Baktay had the impression of seeing large-size cartoons designed for big frescoes. Of Ajanta frescoes, it was primarily those of the Gupta-age, that is, of the classical period between the 4—6th centuries that he related to the 2—3rd century reliefs of Amaravati (Plate 4-5-6.) Baktay held that a new style peculiar to the Deccan peninsula developed in this period and appeared both on the reliefs of Amaravati and the frescoes of Ajanta. The idea of common origin was suggested by the compositions which were very similar; notwithstanding different materials, the filling of space with crowds of moving figures was conspicuous in both cases.