+ BUDDA WITH LIONS, stone, Gandhara, 4th century AD

The stone sculpture (called schist) shows Buddha Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, sitting in the lotus position. The Buddha has a traditional hairstyle derived from the oldest Indian representations, and his head is surrounded by a halo with a carved frieze. A modest, but fancifully carved, long monk robe covers the body and strongly refers to Greek sculptural compositions. The right hand of the Buddha performs the Abhaja-mudra gesture (Sanskrit literally "gesture of fearlessness") - in Hindu and Buddhist iconography, the so-called the "no fear" (a-bhaja) mudra, symbolizing the gesture of protection. Below the Buddha are the central flower (perhaps the prototype of the Flower of Life symbol), and the lions on the sides. Lions accompanied the Buddha from the first iconographic representations, often later appearing in the art of many Far East countries, and their large-scale sculptures guarded, for example, entrances to temples, later they were often called Buddhist Lions or Foo dogs (Buddha dogs).

Art areain ancient Gandhara it is often called Greek-Buddhist art, because the inhabitants of Gandhara drew profusely from Greek art, and the oldest known images of the Buddha 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 cities in this area, which resulted in an intensive cultural and material exchange lasting for several centuries.the inhabitants of this region with the Greek and Roman world.

Information:

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

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

auction results:

https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/saturday-at-sothebys-n09666/lot.1183.html

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

/ Buddha with lions, Gandhara, schist, 1-5 century AD /