The Life of the Buddha Through Ancient Sculptures

buddha visits an ascetic

gandhara art, around 100 ad.

– buddha visits an ascetic. -

relief. schist, height 41 cm, width 50 cm, depth 7 cm.

origin unknown (formerly in the guides mess, mardan).

inv. no. pm 2893 (formerly 2066).
peshawar, museum.

identifier

akg5818205

time period

1st century

1st millennium a.d.

2nd century

topic

art

ascetic (male)

asian art

buddhism

founder of a religion

geography

person

technique

size

4961px × 4360px (61 mb)

42.0 cm × 36.9 cm @ 300 dpi

special formats

7795px × 6850px (153 mb) tiff
66.0 cm × 58.0 cm @ 300 dpi

Museum number

1961,0218.1

Description

Panel showing the Buddha performing a miracle before ascetics, perhaps the Kāśyapas. The haloed Buddha sits on a low seat in the centre of the panel, his over-robe on both shoulders; the neckline is in relief and somewhat plunging, the drapery folds in regularly curving and rounded ridges. He raises his right hand as if in abhaya with a seed or fruit (a mango) in…View moreabout description

School/style

Gandhara School

Cultures/periods

Kushan

Production date

2ndC-3rdC

Production place

Made in: Gandhara (Pakistan)

Asia: South Asia: Pakistan: Gandhara (Pakistan)

Findspot

Found/Acquired: Pakistan

Asia: South Asia: Pakistan

Materials

schist

Technique

carved

Dimensions

Diameter: 7.20 centimetres

Height: 29.50 centimetres

Width: 52 centimetres

Curator's comments

Zwalf 1996:
On this lively and well-balanced panel the rhythmically mannered stance of the ascetics and their and Vajrapāṇi's higher relief contrast with the much flatter and broader Buddha who, though hieratic, joins the action of the panel by turning to one side. The eyes of the ascetics in their often long faces are mainly narrow slits and correspond to their extremely slanting treatment on the Buddha's face.

Vajrapāṇi with a fly-whisk occurs in a number of instances.The fly-whisk is found on or attributed to twenty of the two hundred examples of Vajrapāṇi described in Santoro, 1979: 310-36. For Vajrapāṇi's Western mode of dress see BM 1939.0119.18.View lessabout curator's comments

Bibliographic references

Zwalf 1996 / A Catalogue of the Gandhara Sculpture in the British Museum (203)

Location

Not on display

Condition

1.Grey schist, lightly broken and chipped.
2.Top and bottom flat; pitted sides flat and tapering.
3.Back with vertical chisel grooves.
4.Two round pinholes from front to back, one opening out to a much enlarged hole behind. 5.Paired vertical centre lines on bottom border.

Subjects

Associated names

Representation of: Buddha

Associated with: Kasyapa

Representation of: Vajrapāṇi

Acquisition name

Purchased from: Spink & Son Ltd

Funder name