Unknown Artist
Figure of Buddha
- Location
- Upper Asian gallery
- Further information
The Buddha was originally shown only by symbols, such as the stupa, the wheel of the Doctrine or a footprint. It was the Gandhara area of northwest India that gave rise to the first representations of the Buddha in human form in the 2nd century BCE. This standing figure shows a Greco-Roman influence in its classical facial features and the drapery-like folds of the robe. The left hand grasps a corner of the robe while the right hand would have faced palm out and fingers upright in the 'abhaya mudra' (gesture of fearlessness). Typical of the Gandhar Buddha is the naturalistic hairstyle, the rounded cranial bump or ushnisha (indicating wisdom), and the spiral between the eyebrows (urna) signifying spiral insight.
Asian Art Department, AGNSW, August 1995
- Place of origin
-
Swat Valley,
Ancient Gandhara,
Pakistan
- Period
- India: Kushan period mid 1st century–early 5th century
- Year
- 2nd century
- Media
- Sculpture
- Medium
- grey schist
- Dimensions
- 109.0 x 37.0 x 17.0cm
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of Josef and Regina Neumann 1986
- Accession number
- 85.1986
