+ MAN, stone, Gandhara, 4th century AD

Gandhara (today's Pakistan and Afghanistan), 4th century AD

Height 19 cm, width 5 cm, depth 4 cm.

The state of preservation is visible in the photos.

More details


4 500 zł tax incl.

The stone sculpture (called schist) shows a man in a modest outfit, probably a Bodhisattva. His hair is fastened with a headband and he is dressed in cascading carved pants. The plastic, naturalistic, slightly idealized way of presenting the characters refers to ancient Greek art and the stylization of traditional Indian art.

The art of the area of ancient Gandhara is often called Greek-Buddhist art, because the inhabitants of Gandhara drew heavily from Greek art, and the oldest known Buddha images from this area, dating back to the 1st century AD, are often compared to Greek statues of Apollo. From the 4th century BC, i.e. the time of the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek settlers founded towns in this area, which resulted in an intensive cultural and material exchange of the inhabitants of this region with the Greek and Roman worlds lasting for several centuries.

Information:

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gand/hd_gand.htm

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara

auction results:

https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-a-gandhara-schist-figure-of-a-bodhisattva-4350242/ from = searchresults & intObjectID = 4350242

https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/indian-himalayan-southeast-asian-art-n09319/lot.1066.html?locale=en

/ Standing man - Bodhisattva, Gandhara, schist, 1-5 century AD /