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

l66 ROMANO-INDIAN ART
•
summer capital of the Kushan rulers, was also a
site famous in the annals of Buddhism; it is
described by Hsuan-tsang as a flourishing
centre of Mahayana Buddhism, with splendid
and imposing stupas and sangharamas. Noth-
1
ing could be more appropriate to the nature of
the finds at Begram than Hsiian-tsang's remark,
'Here also are found objects of merchandise
from all parts'. 2 The finds in the early Kushan
palace included metal statuettes of Greco-
Roman (probably Alexandrian) type, plaster
replicas of the emblema of Hellenistic metalwork,
and quantities of Syrian glassware,
together with lacquer boxes from Han China.
Here was a complete record of the luxurious and
international character of Kushan taste. All
these finds antedate the Sasanian sack of a.d.
241. The Buddhist sculpture found at Begram
and the nearby sites of Paitava and Shotorak is
of the usual Gandhara style. Most of it probably
dates from the third or fourth century: the
Buddha images, like the one illustrated in
Chapter 9 [68], have the folds of the robe
conventionalized in a system of raised ridges
giving the body the appearance of being caught
in a network of strings, not unlike the drapery of
Palmyran sculpture of the second and third
centuries.
Near the modern town of Jelalabad are the
ruins of Hadda, the ancient Nagarahara. Fragments
of sculpture from this site made their
appearance as early as the nineteenth century,
but it was not until the French excavations of
1922 that the full significance of the remains
could be appreciated. 3
The sculpture of Hadda
differs from the Gandhara products already
examined in being made entirely of lime plaster
or stucco, single figures, reliefs, and architectural
decorations in this material being
affixed as decoration to the exterior of the innumerable
stupas and monasteries of the site. 4
There can be little doubt but that all the
stucco sculpture both in Afghanistan and northwestern
India was originally brilliantly coloured.
In the course of excavations of the ruined
monastery at Teppe Marandjan in Kabul, a
number of specimens of lime-plaster sculpture
was found preserved in a pristine condition.
The flesh parts were tinted a pinkish terra-cotta
shade, with lines of deeper red to indicate the
folds of the neck, lips, nostrils, etc. Brown irises
defined the eyes, which were outlined in blue
and brown. The robes of these Buddhist figures
were painted a deep cinnabar; various colours,
including a rich lapis-lazuli blue, were used to
pick out the jewelled ornaments and head-dress.
Hsiian-tsang in his description of Hadda says
that 'the sangharamas are many but the priests
are few; the stupas are desolate and ruined'. 5 It
seems likely that most of the remains date from
the third to the fifth centuries of our era,
although additions and repairs were, probably,
made right up to the time of the disastrous
invasion of the Huns in the sixth century.
The repertory of sculpture at Hadda includes
an enormous variety of ethnic types - Indian,
Iranian, and European - as well as an equally
great number of stylistic variants ranging from
seemingly Hellenistic to purely Indian techniques.
Among the more Classical pieces is
fragment of a figure holding a lapful of flowers
[no]. As was pointed out when the relief was
first discovered, this is no more nor less than a
transference to Hadda of the Roman portrait in
the Lateran of the Emperor Hadrian's favourite
Antinoiis as Vertumnus. Not only the type and
the floral attribute, but also the conception of
the form and modelling appear entirely Roman
to an even greater degree than the stone
sculpture of Gandhara - perhaps for the reason
that the malleable medium of lime plaster
afforded the greater freedom in the desired
realistic expression. The sculpture of Hadda
has been made famous chiefly by the comparisons
published by French scholars between
certain pieces from this site and typical heads of
the Gothic period. Some heads of Brahmin
ascetics bear comparison with the 'Beau Dieu'
a