Gandharan Art and the Classical World: A Short Introduction

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents Page
Preface
Chapter 1 What is Gandharan Art?
Chapter 2 Greece, Rome and Gandhara
Chapter 3 Gandharan Art Today
Further Reading and Resources
Bibliography
Full Captions and Image Credits
	Figure 1. Map showing the locations of some of the major Gandharan sites of the Peshawar Valley.
	Figure 2. Aerial view of the Sirkap site at Taxila, looking south.
	Figure 3. So-called ‘palette’ or ‘toilet-tray’ in steatite, from Akra Mound, Bannu, c. first to second century AD. It is decorated with the classical iconography of the myth of Artemis and Aktaeon.
	Figure 4. Carnelian intaglio (carved seal-stone) showing Herakles. Found in Afghanistan and believed to have been made there, c. first to third century AD.
	Figure 5. Gandharan relief in schist showing monks venerating a stupa, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 6. View of the monastery of Takht-i-Bahi, looking north. The square structure in the nearest court is the base of the main stupa; the court immediately beyond became crowded with small stupas.
	Figure 7. Steatite reliquary which contained miniature gold reliquaries, a charm, and coins of the Kushan emperor Vima Takto. From a stupa at Darunta, Afghanistan, c. second century AD.
	Figure 8. Schist reliefs from a Gandharan monument (stupa stair-risers?), c. first to second century AD. The scenes show dancing, drinking, and music with figures in varied dress.
	Figure 9. Painted and gilded female head in stucco (with partial restorations), found at a Buddhist site at Rokhri, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 10. Small (50.8 cm high) schist standing figure of the Buddha, c. third century AD.
	Figure 11. Schist sculpture of the fasting Siddhartha/Buddha from Sikri, c. second to fourth century AD.
	Figure 12. The Bimaran reliquary casket, c. first century AD. Gold with inlaid garnets; height 6.5 cm. From Bimaran Stupa 2 near Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The gods Brahma and Indra are shown flanking a frontal Buddha who stands in abhayamudra.
	Figure 13. Gold coin of the Emperor Kanishka from Ahin Posh near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, c. AD 127-150: reverse showing figure of the Buddha.
	Figure 14. Roman marble head of Apollo, probably from a herm, c. first half of second century AD. Formerly in the Lansdowne and William Randolph Hearst collections and formerly thought to represent Artemis.
	Figure 15. Small (17 cm high) Gandharan schist head of the Buddha, second to third century AD. Note the comparisons with Fig. 14 in sharply defined eyebrows, mouth, youthful skin, and wavy strands of hair.
	Figure 16. The colossal Buddha sculptures of Cave 20 at Yungang, Shanxi Province, China, c. AD 460 (main Buddha figure  13.7 m high).
	Figure 17. The smaller Buddha at Bamiyan, Afghanistan (photographed in 1977), c. late sixth century AD (38 m high).
	Figure 18. Schist standing figure of the bodhisattva Maitreya, c. third century AD. The left hand originally held a water-flask; this and the hairstyle distinguish the figure from other bodhisattvas.
	Figure 19. The Mohammed Nari stela, carved in schist, third century AD (height 119 cm). A buddha is shown sitting on a lotus, surrounded by other Buddhas and many bodhisattvas. The relief was probably made for use in a shrine.
	Figure 20. Gandharan schist relief fragment including Vajrapani among followers of the Buddha, c. second to third century AD. Note his lionskin, sword and mace-like vajra.
	Figure 21. Clay sculpture of Herakles-Vajrapani attending the Buddha’s first sermon. From Niche V2, Tapa-e Shotor monastery, Hadda, Afghanistan, c. second half of second century AD?
	Figure 22. Gandharan schist relief showing dancing and music-making. The Buddhist significance of such imagery is debated.
	Figure 23. Gandharan schist relief from a small stupa (its shape follows the curvature of the stupa drum). Frieze of ‘putti’ supporting a garland, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 24. Roman marble sarcophagus with erotes (cupids) holding garlands. Found at Tarsus, Cilicia, early third century AD.
	Figure 25. Gandharan schist winged ‘Atlas’figure from Jamalgarhi, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 26. Gandharan schist relief of Hariti and Panchika from Takht-i-Bahi, c. second to third century AD. Hariti’s posture, the fruit-laden cornucopia, and the figure-hugging tunic falling from her right shoulder are all features of Graeco-Roman goddess
	Figure 27. Gandharan schist relief showing Maya’s dream, c. second century AD. She sleeps on a luxurious couch, accompanied by servants and guards. The elephant representing the future Buddha was carved on the now damaged nimbus (halo) above the queen.
	Figure 28. Gandharan schist relief showing the birth of the Buddha, c. second to third century AD. Found in the Gandhara region c. late nineteenth century. It appears to have belonged to the same stupa as Figure 36 judging from the stylistic and technical
	Figure 29. Gandharan schist relief showing the Buddha’s first bath.
	Figure 30. Fragment of a Roman sarcophagus relief, c. late second century AD.
	Figure 31. Gandharan schist relief showing the young Siddhartha, the future Buddha, in an archery contest, assisted by a monkey, from Takht-i-Bahi, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 32. Gandharan relief showing the Great Departure of Siddhartha. From Loriyan Tangai, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 33. Detail of Roman sarcophagus relief showing Jesus Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. From the Vatican area of Rome, fourth century AD.
	Figure 34. Gandharan schist relief showing the Buddha’s enlightenment beneath a pipal tree, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 35. Gandharan schist relief showing Mara’s demon army, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 36. Gandharan schist relief showing the death (the Mahaparinirvana) of the Buddha, c. second to third century AD. Found in the Gandhara region c. late nineteenth century. It appears to have belonged to the same stupa as Figure 28. Note Vajrapani at
	Figure 37. Roman marble sarcophagus with representation of a young girl’s death-bed and mourners. Later second century AD.
	Figure 38. Gandharan schist relief showing the Dipankara-jataka, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 39. Gandharan relief of the Shibi-jataka, c. second century AD.
	Figure 40. Drawing of the punishment of Marsyas scene on the side of a Roman sarcophagus in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilij, Rome. From the Via Aurelia at Rome, c. AD 230.
	Figure 41. Major-General Sir Alexander Cunningham (c. 1885) seated with sculptures from Jamalgarhi.
	Figure 42. Alexander Caddy’s photography of 1896, documenting recently discovered sculptures at Loriyan Tangai.
	Figure 43. Painted stucco head of a monk, probably from Hadda in Afghanistan, c. fourth to fifth century AD. It would have been part of a larger Buddhist narrative scene. The realism of the facial features is close to Hellenistic Greek and Roman portraitu
	Figure 44. Detail of a grieving follower of the Buddha from a Gandharan schist relief showing part of the Mahaparinirvana, c. second- to third-century AD.
	Figure 45. Roman child’s sarcophagus with a relief of Muses, from the Isola Sacra necropolis, Ostia, c. late second century AD.
	Figure 46. Gandharan stair-riser relief of standing figures, from Takht-i-Bahi, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 47. Small (18 cm high) Gandharan schist relief of Hariti and Panchika, c. second to third century AD.
	Figure 49. Detail of a Roman marble sarcophagus lid with scenes from the Trojan War, c. late second century AD.
	Figure 48. Gandharan schist relief with scene of the ‘Wooden Horse’, from Hund, c. second century AD.
	Figure 50. Silver coin (tetradrachm) of Menander I.
	Figure 51. Limestone funerary stele (gravestone) with relief of a youth wearing a cloak, from the cemetery of Ai Khanoum, c. third to second century BC.
	Figure 52. Miniature gold figure with turquoise inlay, used to adorn the body of a woman in Tillya Tepe Tomb 6, c. mid first century AD. The winged goddess adapts the classical iconography of Aphrodite.
	Figure 53. Painted clay sculpture of a warrior, from a battle scene in the palatial hall at Khalchayan, Uzbekistan, first century BC.
	Figure 54. Schist relief in the ‘drawing style’ from the stupa frieze at Saidu Sharif I, c. 50s-60s AD. Part of scene of the gift of the elephant to Siddhartha.
	Figure 55. Small plaster relief of a youth (22.3 cm high) from the hoard at Begram, c. first century AD.
	Figure 56. Lid of a Roman marble sarcophagus with scenes of the birth and infancy of the god Dionysus/Bacchus, c. AD 190, found at the ‘Licinian Tomb’ in Rome. Note the tree and archway which structure the scene in a manner reminiscent of Gandharan stair-
	Figure 57. Gandharan schist stair-riser reliefs from Jamalgarhi. Note the similarity of format and compositions and figures to Roman sarcophagus lids such as that in Figure 56.
	Figure 58. Gilt bronze statuette of a seated Buddha, c. second to third century AD(?).
	Figure 59. Archaeological Heritage of Pakistan Rs. 7 postage stamps, Pakistan 1999.
	Figure 60. The sixth- to seventh-century Jahanabad Buddha after it had been damaged with explosives by the Taliban, targeted as an idol, September 2007; in this image the damage to the face has been consolidated for conservation.
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