Page 6 - Christies DEVOTION IN STONE Gandharan Art From a Japanese Collection Sept 23 2020 NYC

DEVOTION IN STONE

Gandharan Masterpieces from a Private Japanese Collection

The ancient region of Gandhara was centered on the In 327 BCE, the Macedonian king Alexander the Great (r.
agricultural plains of the Peshawar basin in modern-day 336-323 BCE) conquered the regions of Bactria, Gandhara,
northwest Pakistan. The region extended to the mountain and the Swat Valley. Along the way through his conquest,
range of the Hindu Kush to the west, the high foothills of Alexander founded four cities to guard his route, which
the Himalayas to the north, the Indus River to the east, and marked the stages of his conquest: one at Herat, another
the arid plains surrounding modern-day Peshawar to the near Farah, one in Kandahar, and at Parvani near Begram.
south. North of this was the ancient region of Udayana, The effects of this extraordinary expedition marks one of
with the Swat Valley at its core, and to the west across the most important stages in the grafting of Hellenism into
the Hindu Kush was the ancient region of Nagarahara the heart of Asia, creating a multi-cultural lexicon and the
(present-day Afghanistan), with Bactria to its northwest. birth of the Gandharan style. After Alexander’s death, these
These areas together formed the Gandhara region and is areas came under the control of his generals and were
known for having produced some of the greatest examples broadly divided, with the regions to the north of the Hindu
of Buddhist art. Kush remaining under Seleucid Greek rule, while more
southerly provinces were reclaimed by the Mauryan dynasty
Owing to its strategic location along the Silk Road trade
of India. Between the 4th century BCE and 7th century CE,
routes linking China, South Asia, and the Mediterranean,
Gandhara was controlled successively by the Greeks, Indo-
the region was a prime military and commercial hub with
Greeks, Shakas, Parthians, Scythians, Kushans, Sasanians,
great wealth that attracted waves of foreign invaders
Huns, and other political entities, who introduced diverse
over the centuries. However, geographical circumstances
religious traditions and artistic conventions.
alone cannot explain the manifold influences that favored
and gave such a hybrid character to the art of this region. A precise date for the beginning of Gandharan art is
Historical and religious factors have played a key role and hard to pinpoint. However, from the earliest remains from
of these, three great events had the most important and Gandhara that have survived, comprising of mostly luxury
lasting effect: the expedition of Alexander the Great (329 goods found in the urban centers of Sirkap, one can safely
to 325 BCE) bringing the seeds of Hellenism; the nomadic assume the beginning to have been between the 2nd
invasions followed by the founding of the powerful Kushan century BCE – 1st century CE. While a few Buddhist sites
Dynasty towards the end of the 1st century CE, and the from the region may be dated to the 2nd century BCE, the
Buddhist expansion with its potent artistic inspiration. earliest Gandharan art associated with Buddhism dates to
no earlier than the 1st century CE, when reliefs embellishing
Buddhist architecture first began to appear. One is able to
piece together a larger picture of the Gandharan style and
its history from a vast number of archaeological remains
that have been excavated from this region, from various
early religious texts and ancient inscriptions mentioning
Gandhara, as well as from the accounts of Chinese pilgrims.
Stylistically the sculptures and relief panels that have come
down to us from this greater Gandhara region can be
divided into that coming from Gandhara proper, the Swat
Valley, and Afghanistan. The art of this region exhibits
a compelling fusion of foreign styles that exemplifies
the Buddhist religious ideals in northwest Pakistan and
Afghanistan. While these sites may be dated based on the
coins that were excavated from the sites, the chronology of
the sculptures and their development is debatable.
By the 1st century CE, the Kushans had taken control of
most of North India, Gandhara proper, and the ancient
Afghan regions of Bactria and Nagarahara, and for a time

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