The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c9.21

c9.21

That this relief is a product of the Gandhāra School is proved by the variety of local Gandhāra schist of which it is made; and that it dates from the late Śaka period is suggested by the character of the carving and the peculiarly distinctive treatment of the hard, staring eyes of the anchorites. In the case of the stūpa-brackets of this early period, we have seen that the Gandhāra sculptors made use of Indian models for their winged devas, and then proceeded to elaborate them with the Greek volute bracket and acanthus foliage, thus giving the design a definite hybrid character. In this Jātaka relief there is no trace of any Hellenistic features. It appears to be the handiwork of a sculptor who was trained in the Early Indian School but had adopted, in Gandhāra, the local method of treating the eyes. Even at this early stage the relief foreshadows the all-important part which religion was destined to play in the transformation and development of Gandhāra art.