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

THE GUPTA PERIOD 237
the relief carving with the forms outlined against
a deeply shadowed background may be regarded
as a development of the archaic style found at
Sanchi and elsewhere. In the individual scenes
the story is related in a very clear shorthand
manner, with the inclusion of only those figures
necessary to the action. There is a perpetuation
of the manner of continuous narration, so that
all
the events related to the Buddha's Nativity
(Maya under the Sal tree, the Seven Steps, and
the First Bath) are included within the confines
of the same panel. The reduction of the narrative
to the most essential figures is already
prophesied in the relief style of the Kushan
^^^^^^
Some mention must be made of sculpture in
Period at Mathura.
metal, which at one time certainly existed in a
quantity approximating that of the surviving
examples in stone and stucco. The only remaining
metal statue of any size is the colossal copper
image of Buddha from Sultanganj, in the
Birmingham Museum [175]. Stylistically, the
figure is the equivalent of the fifth-century stone
Buddhas of Sarnath in the smoothly rounded
attenuation of body and limbs, and in the way
that the drapery entirely reveals the form beneath.
Parallel incisions on the surface are all
that indicate the presence of folds in front of the
body. Modelling in the shape of the archaic
chevron pattern connotes the fullness of the
garment at the borders. The figure, standing
erect and majestic like the Sarnath statues, has a
feeling of animation imparted by the unbalanced
stance and the movement suggested
by the sweeping silhouette of the enveloping
robe. Indeed, much of the impressiveness of
this figure derives from the position of the arms
unfurling the mantle on either side of the body
like giant wings outspread.
Just as important aesthetically and historically
are the small figures ofBuddha and Buddhist
divinities in bronze that have been unearthed
both in Gandhara and the Ganges Valley, if
only because it is highly likely that such small
portable statues were imported into China by
Buddhist pilgrims like Hsiian-tsang and served
as models for the religious sculpture of the Far
East. 6
Among the statuettes in bronze that have
been found in Gandhara, which are reported to
have been excavated at Sahri Bahlol, is an
175. Copper Buddha from Sultanganj.
Birmingham Museum