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The ancient civilization of Gandhara was located
in the region encompassing modern
northeastern Afghanistan and northwestern
Pakistan. Situated at a confluence of trading
paths along the Silk Route, the area was flooded
in diverse cultural influences ranging from
Greece to China. Gandhara flourished under the
Kushan Dynasty and their great king, Kanishka,
who is traditionally given credit for spreading the
philosophies of Buddhism throughout central
Asia and into China. This period is viewed as the
most important era in the history of Buddhism.
After the conquests of Alexander the Great, the
creation of Greco-Bactrian kingdoms, and the
general Hellenization of the subcontinent,
Western aesthetics became prominent. Greek
influence began permeating into Gandhara. Soon
sculptors based the images of the Buddha on
Greco-Roman models, depicting Him as a stocky
and youthful Apollo, complete with stretched
earlobes and loose monastic robes similar to a
Roman toga. The extraordinary artistic creations
of Gandhara reveal links between the different
worlds of the East and West.
This small but refined carving depicts the head
of the Buddha. The illusion of hair is created by
evenly spaced ‘s’ shaped indentations in the
stucco. The top-knot was regarded as a symbol
of the Buddha’s wisdom and spiritual
enlightenment. Small traces of the original
polychromy survive. Red pigment is visible on
the lips and inside the earlobes and the eyelids
retain small amounts of black. The head is in
excellent condition and will be highly prized by
connoisseurs of Buddhist art.
- (AM.0222)
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