A gray schist relief with Siddhartha wrestling

GANDHARA, 2ND/3RD CENTURY

Details

A gray schist relief with Siddhartha wrestling
Gandhara, 2nd/3rd century
With Siddhartha and a competitor wrestling at center, each grabbing the other's robes, the future Buddha backed by a nimbus and surmounted by blossoming foliage, flanked on either side by spectators in varying garb, including a man in princely robes and turban at right
12½ in. (31.8 cm.) wide

Provenance

Private Collection, Japan, 1985

Lot Essay

To prove his worthiness as suitor to Yasodhara, Siddhartha partook in a wrestling competition under the watchful eye of his father. The future Buddha was of course successful and went on to marry his cousin. This scene is relatively rare; for another example, see H. Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan, 1957, figs. 27 and 28.

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