Kushan sculpture: Mathura and Gandhara

The National Museum in New Delhi has a collection of antiquities that broadly reflect the diversity of Indian art. One of the most expressive parts of this collection is sculpture.

One of the peoples who entered India from the northwest of Central Asia (the southern provinces of present-day Uzbekistan and Northern Afghanistan) was the Yuezhi. They sought to expand the borders of the so-called Kushan kingdom. Mill. This kingdom, which appeared at the beginning of the 1st century, existed for more than three centuries. Although this period is relatively small by historical criteria, the echoes of the artistic style created during the Kushan rule persisted for a long time in the territories stretching from the banks of the Amu Darya to the wide plains of the Ganges River. The Kushans assimilated local languages and writing, and also showed interest in the types of art that existed in the countries under their control. They made a great contribution to the development of art and architecture.

The most notable of the existing artistic styles of that time were the Gandhara and Mathura styles, which developed in the centers of the same name. While Mathura perfected the visual aesthetics characteristic of the emerging North India, Gandhara combined assimilated qualities (characteristic of the Greco-Roman school) with local characteristics.

During the Kushan period, the laws of depicting Buddha were developed - states of sitting, standing, lying (sat, stayed, lay), iconography of the main themes of his life, for example, scenes with bodhisattvas, etc. The laws of images can differ from each other in terms of the aesthetic concepts characteristic of the Chakravarthi and Yoga schools.

Thus, the presence of thirty-two beneficial signs is emphasized in the Buddha's images of Mahapurusha (great man), for example, a hairstyle on the crown of the head (ushnisha), a spot on the forehead, eyebrows (urn), elongated ears (pralamba-karna pasha), long hands to the knees (ajanubahu), a broad chest (vishalavaksha), dharmachakra (chakravaka-ashtapadi), joined fingers (jalanguly-kara), etc.

The charm of Gandhara's works was the desire to convey the human body in the most realistic or idealized way. The perfection of anatomy, the precision of details, the attention paid to the precise display of wavy curls of hair and rich folds of fabrics, the carefully crafted ornamentation, the spirit of majestic tranquility characteristic of divine signs - all this distinguishes the Gandhara school from its ancestors and contemporaries.

The sculpture was created in accordance with the traditions of the Mathura school of sculpture and is an excellent example of the portrait genre. The character is depicted with a calm expression on his face. On the head - a cap with a pointed conical shape and carefully depicted delicate details, such as seam prints, bead lining. Such headwear is considered to belong to the Scythians. Pearl or beaded lining is characteristic of the Kushan period.