The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c16.15

c16.15

In the last of these examples (fig. 119), which is the latest of the four, we see the same formality in the disposition of the figures, the same sort of prettiness in the faces of the *devas* and *devis*. Indeed, the *devi* at the back of the horse’s head, who is evidently intended for the city-goddess of Kapilavastu (*nagara-devatā*), must be considered beautiful by any standard. But for the most part the figures are like puppets, with heads too big for their bodies, and movements that are stiff and ungainly. The episode here recounted is the same as that in fig. 114, the flight of the Bodhisattva from Kapilavastu, but instead of the young prince and his horse being shown from the front, they are shown in profile, moving from right to left. In the earlier relief the two *yakshas* supporting the horse’s feet are defaced; but here they are well preserved, and so, too, are the other actors in the scene, namely Chandaka the groom, who stands behind the horse holding the royal umbrella over his master, and above him, in the background, the Vajrapāṇi; while in front of the horse is Māra, bow in hand, and at his back the haloed figure of Indra (cf. fig. 114 above).