A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c12.s1.45

c12.s1.45

An excellently inscribed standing Buddha of the fifth century in the Mathurā Museum, height 7 feet 2½ inches = 0·81 m. (Fig. 117), while clearly related to the Sārnāth seated image in several respects, differs widely in the treatment of the drapery, which at Mathurā shows a reminiscence of Hellenistic forms. The skill with which the body is shown through the transparent garments is characteristic of the best Gupta sculpture. No doubt careful study of an adequate number of examples would disclose the existence of several well-marked local schools of sculpture during the Gupta period, as in other ages; but it would be premature at present to attempt such refinement in the treatment of a subject which needs to be first sketched on broader lines.