The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

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CHAPTER 10
ART UNDER THE KUSHANS
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II.
MATHURA: THE INDIAN PHASE
The completely Indian art created at Mathura
(modern Muttra) on the Jumna River in the
early centuries of the Christian era, unlike that
of Gandhara, did not appear as a sudden outburst
of creative activity inspired by Kushan
patronage. It may be properly regarded as an
outgrowth of the ancient Indian schools:
inscriptions and fragments of sculpture take the
history of Mathura as a centre of religious art
back to c. 200 B.C. ; a number of dated fragments
from the early first century a.d., mostly from
Jain monuments, are the stylistic equivalent of
some of the more advanced works at Bharhut.
The great period of Mathura's florescence coincides
with the great century of Kushan rule
under the reigns of Kanishka and his successors
(c. a.d. 144-241), and is thus exactly contemporary
with the school of Gandhara. The
city continued as an important religious and
artistic centre in the Gupta Period. The
sculptured decoration of the religious establishments
at Mathura, from pre-Kushan times
through the Gupta Period, was all carved from
the red sandstone quarried at Sikri, near the
Kushan capital. This is an exceedingly ugly
stone, frequently marred by veins of yellow and
white, so that streaks and spots of these lighter
colours disfigure the surface. For this reason,
there can be little doubt that the whole carved
surface was originally covered with a concealing
layer of polychromy or gilt.
Before examining the specimens of purely
of portrait statues separated in style both from
the Gandhara school and the native techniques
of Mathura. This group of statues consists of
portraits of Kanishka, his predecessor, Wima
Kadphises, and a Kushan satrap, Chashtana,
who ruled in Sind. Given their intimate connexion
with the royal patrons of Buddhism in
northern India and their autonomous stylistic
character, these effigies make an interesting
starting point for the consideration of the
contribution of the school of Mathura. All the
portraits were found together in the ruins of a
structure that presumably was exclusively
devoted to a royal cult. 1 It should be emphasized
first of all that, although representations of
donors, typical rather than realistic in character,
do occur on Gandhara reliefs, these are the sole
examples of portrait sculpture known in ancient
India. 2 This factor alone suggests a foreign influence
behind their manufacture and installation.
Probably this influence is to be traced to
the Kushans' knowledge of the Roman practice
of erecting likenesses of the deified Caesars or
the Parthian commemorations of mortal sovereigns.
From the stylistic point of view, the
latter possibility seems more probable. The
statue of Wima Kadphises, dated in the sixth
year of Kanishka's reign (a.d. 134 or 150),
represents the ruler seated on a lion-throne,
wearing the short tunic and heavy felt boots so
familiar on the coin portraits of these same
Kushan kings [95]. Only the breadth of
shoulders and fuilness of the form suggest a