The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c12.6

c12.6

In the history of the Gandhāra School this relief has a unique value. It is the earliest representation of the Buddha by a Gandhāra artist known to us. We are in fact here present at the birth, or as near the birth as it is possible to be, of the canonical Buddha standing image which was now to replace the older symbolism of the church and to become for future generations of Buddhists the centre and focus of their liturgical worship.