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A rare large Gupta stone sculpture of a gracefully standing youthful Buddha in a frontal pose, with an elaborate aureole behind his head and two small donor figures by his feet. This masterwork is rendered precisely according to the highest aesthetic of Gupta art of the early 5th Century C.E., the "Golden Age" of Indian culture.
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The Buddha is depicted as "The Enlightened One," a great spiritual being and world ruler (Chakravartin), magnificent in all his glory. The sentiment is both sensual and serene. The iconography follows the Gupta Canon - the hair done in tight curls "like that of a scorpion," the cheeks "like mangos," nose "like a parrot's beak," neck "resembling a conch-shell," the torso "like a lion's," arms "like elephant trunks," legs "resembling those of the antelope." These are the special signs of a great spiritual being (Mahapurushalaksanas). |
The body is artfully draped in the robes (sanghati) of a monk, falling in asymmetrical string-like folds across the torso and in cascades at each side. The form of the Buddha body is revealed beneath the diaphanous robes, as is the girdle-cord and loincloth (langoti). The plasticity of high Gupta art is exemplified here. The face is full and serene, eyes down-cast in introspection, lips slightly smiling and outlined, ears long and pendulous from the weight of princely earrings. The left hand (mostly intact) holds the edge of the robe and hem pleats fall artistically. The right hand was originally in the abhaya gesture of "dispelling fear." An easily removable replica right hand allows for display of this unique sculpture "intact." The legs are placed apart, with a slight flexion at the right knee, as if the Buddha is about to walk forward.
Behind the head of the Buddha is depicted an intact superbly designed and carved halo, consisting of a multi-petalled lotus, followed by a band of foliage held together by a makara-clasp, a row of rosettes, a row with mythical birds interspersed with rosettes, foliage and wheel-like forms, a band of wreaths interspersed with rosettes and cross-scepter symbols, and an outer band of "pearls" with flammiform scallops reminiscent of earlier Kusana Buddha aureoles. The mythical birds are Hamsa "swans", symbols of spirituality. A Paramahamsa is a "Great Soul" or Supreme Yogi.
