The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c17.9

c17.9

Of a wholly different character and of a somewhat later date are the two images, one standing and the other seated, illustrated in figs. 134 and 135. With their well-rounded forms and smooth, pretty faces, these uninspired images fall into line with the conventional *devas* and *devis* so peculiarly characteristic of this period, but it goes without saying that cult images of this kind, which are fashioned in accordance with the strict canonical rules of the Church, are inevitably more set and formal in their expression than other figures, whether celestial or terrestrial, executed by the same artist. The standing image has lost its base, but the line of *Dhyāni*-Buddhas seated under leafy canopies and supported by worshippers which adorns the base of the seated image (fig. 135) is a sure proof of its late date.