Overview

In the early centuries AD, the small region of Gandhara (centred on what is now northern Pakistan) produced an extraordinary tradition of Buddhist art which eventually had an immense influence across Asia. Mainly produced to adorn monasteries and shrines, Gandharan sculptures celebrate the Buddha himself, the stories of his life and the many sacred characters of the Buddhist cosmos. Since this imagery was rediscovered in the nineteenth century, one of its most fascinating and puzzling aspects is the extent to which it draws on the conventions of Greek and Roman art, which originated thousands of kilometres to the west. Inspired by the Gandhara Connections project at Oxford University’s Classical Art Research Centre, this book offers an introduction to Gandharan art and the mystery of its relationship with the Graeco-Roman world of the Mediterranean. It presents an accessible explanation of the ancient and modern contexts of Gandharan art, the state of scholarship on the subject, and guidance for further, in-depth study.

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9781803276946

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Peter Stewart is Director of the Classical Art Research Centre and Professor of Ancient Art at the University of Oxford. A specialist in Roman sculpture, he has devoted much of his research to the spread of the classical artistic tradition in and beyond the provinces of the Roman Empire. His publications include Statues in Roman Society: Representation and Response (2003), The Social History of Roman Art (2008) and, together with Wannaporn Rienjang, the edited volumes of the Gandhara Connections project.

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