GANDHARA, 2ND/3RD CENTURY

With the growing popularity of Mahayana Buddhism around the 2nd century, large detached images were sculpted alongside narrative friezes. This is superbly executed sculpture of a standing Buddha is characteristic for the high point of Gandharan art, among the very best in terms of refinement in carving and in an excellent state of preservation. Buddha wears monastic garments, very elegantly draped across both shoulders, wrapped around the arms and revealing further undergarments. The fingers of the pendent left hand are very finely carved and polished, as are the facial features. The undulating strands of hair and curls of the topknot are extremely finely detailed.
For a closely related example of this iconic Buddha image in the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, with the folds of the heavy robe similarly draping naturalistically over the body suggesting volume underneath, see A. Proser (ed.), The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan, 2011, p. 150, cat. no. 58.