The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c12.16

c12.16

The next relief is slightly larger than the foregoing, being about 10.5 in. in height, including the plinth (fig. 58). The stone of which it is made is said to be a dark micaceous schist, whether chloritic could not be determined owing to the black pigment covering the surface. The scene portrayed is the ‘Bath of the infant Buddha’. In the foreground two female attendants are supporting the child on a three-legged stool, while Indra and Brahmā pour water from lotas over his head. To right and left, four more figures, doubtless divine, have come to adore the newborn Buddha. Behind the infant’s head is the usual halo; above, the usual umbrella. The likeness of this to the two preceding reliefs is obvious. There is the same facial expression, the same short and delicately modelled nose, the same bone structure of the cheeks, the same draping of the robes, the same framing of the panel between Corinthian pilasters. But the workmanship in this relief is not up to the same high standard. The modelling of the attendant figures is heavier, the folds of their draperies coarser. Indeed, in the case of one of the kneeling women, the folds, instead of being modelled, are indicated merely by incised, wavering lines. This may mean nothing more than that the carving at this point was unfinished, but, quite apart from this particular defect, we cannot fail to be conscious of the incipient signs of failing technical skill visible in this relief.