Gandhara BUST Schist Gandhara, 3rd - 4th century Height:... Lot 17

Gandhara BUST Schist Gandhara, 3rd - 4th century Height: 50 cm This bust of a Gandhara sculpture is adorned with a finely-executed, relief-pleated garment, forming a delicate knot on the front, while a hand rests on the figure's hip. Gandhara was the ancient region of northwestern India, northern Pakistan and northeastern Afghanistan. It was conquered by Alexander the Great around 330 BC. His passage favored the spread of Hellenistic art by Western craftsmen, whose style exerted a major influence on the region's statuary. Crossed by the Silk Roads, Gandhara was a commercial and cultural crossroads between the West and the Far East. Around the 1st century, the spread of Buddhism to the West led to the foundation of monastic centers where an art form illustrating the life of Buddha was born, with stylistic influences blending Indian Buddhist art with that of Central Asia and the West. (visible gaps)