“The Greatest Ancient Picture Gallery”

Massimo Borchi/Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis
A statue of the Buddha in one of the Ajanta caves, India

The 2nd century A.D. Buddhist caves at Ajanta are an artistic survivor from a vanished era. That they were re-discovery by a British soldier hunting a tiger in 1819 adds romance to the more than abundant wonder of these rock-hewn temples, monasteries, and chambers. William Dalrymple writes about the caves, their history, and the art historical work of great Ajanta scholars Walter Spink and Gregory Schopen in his article in the current New York Review of Books. – Buddhist Art News