The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c17.11

c17.11

When we turn from the Buddha to the Bodhisattva images, we are at once struck by the stylishness and superlatively fine workmanship which distinguish the vast majority of the latter. Among the most noteworthy types is that represented by figs. 137 and 138, the former a statue of Maitreya from the Moḥrā Morādu Monastery at Taxila, the latter a fragment only which was at one time in the Guides' Mess at Mardān. All the Bodhisattvas are princely figures, attired in princely robes and wearing a wealth of jewellery shown in meticulous detail. But in the figures of this particular group there is a certain dandyism and swagger which shows itself not only in their personal bearing and waved moustaches, but in the cut of their dress and in the pointed, well-folded hems of their skirts. Fig. 138 comprises only the head and shoulders, but I have thought it worth including it here because it shows up so clearly the details of the ornaments and the beauty of the chiselling, as clean-cut and precise as could be found in any school of sculpture, East or West.