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Greek artistic influence on Budist art

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  Quote Yiannis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Greek artistic influence on Budist art
    Posted: 11-Oct-2004 at 09:11

After Alexander's conqest and the establishment of several Indo-Greek kingdoms, Greek art flourished and influenced the art of all conquered regions. When it comes to Budist art we see:

The Budas of Bamiyan in Greek clothes (yes the ones that were destroyed by the Taliban:

Greatly influenced the Kushan kingdom:

(Gold coin of Kushan emperor Kanishka I (c.100-126 AD) with a Hellenistic representation of the Buddha , and the word "Boddo" in Greek script.)

Sophytes seems to have been a Greek prince would reigned from 305 to 294 BC on a kingdom in northern India (in today's Punjab in Pakistan).

He is sometimes described as a son of Alexander the Great and the daughter of prince Subhuti, himself one of the ten major disciples of the Buddha Shakyamuni.

The reign of Sophytes apparently ended with the conquests of the Chandragupta emperor Maurya.

Or this statue of Buddha in Greek style:

A depiction of Hercules in India:

I should probably stop posting pictures here, but a search on Greek - Budist art will give you a river of relevant information on this topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  Quote ArmenianSurvival Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-Oct-2004 at 22:45

Ya, i remember reading stuff about the spread of Hellenistic culture into Buddhist civilizations. Its pretty interesting blending two types of cultural styles that are so far apart from each other. Made for some pretty cool art.

btw that statue is freaaakin HUGE, the taliban mustve had to nuke that thing to bring it down.

Any idea on when it was built?

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  Quote warhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-Oct-2004 at 23:45
When Xuan Zang of Tang visited this place, he documented this Buddha, meaning that its built at least as early as 620 a.d.
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  Quote Yiannis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Oct-2004 at 02:24

Can we have more input on the matter by the Indians please?

How did they saw the intrusion in their land and art from their perspective?

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  Quote Berosus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Oct-2004 at 04:23
"I should probably stop posting pictures here, but a search on Greek - Budist art will give you a river of relevant information on this topic."

Yiannis, I have heard this called the Gandhara school of art, so be sure to include the word Gandhara, if and when you do such a search.
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  Quote Yiannis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Oct-2004 at 06:17

Originally posted by Berosus

"Yiannis, I have heard this called the Gandhara school of art, so be sure to include the word Gandhara, if and when you do such a search.

Of course you're absolutelly correct. I'm aware of it, but I forgot to mention it in my post. Thanks!

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  Quote YusakuJon3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Nov-2004 at 05:58
From what I know, it doesn't seem like the Hellenistic cultures and India had much conflict following the deaths of Alexander and his general Seleuceus.  There was the one battle where the latter was turned back by an army of the Mauryan empire (305 BC).  From then on, it was disintegration for the Hellistic kingdoms of the east and India expanding its influences rather peacefully.  One example from the later period is of the transformation of Greek Bactria into the kingdom of Ghandara, where a Greek is said to have converted to Buddism.

So, outside of Alexander and Seleuceus trekking out that way and roughing a couple of kingdoms up, the Indians weathered Hellistic expansionism rather well.  After that, rebelling satrapsies and diminishing influence helped shield them from further agression by the Greeks and Romans, wherever such things were in play.
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Apr-2005 at 15:35

One of the most important centres of Greco-Indian art was the city of Taxila. Taxila was conquered by Telephos, of the house of Eukratidae, who were Greco-Bactrian rulers.

After the fall of Taxila, it became the capital of an Indo-Greek kingdom which had as most famous kings Agathocles and Pantaleon. In Taxila, it was the first time which was created the first anthropomorphic representation of Buddha through sculpture. As it is known before, Buddha was never represented because in India, just like the rest of East, they will relegate Buddha if they gave him human shape. This was the main reason why he was represented symbolically...for example in tree shape, etchetera.

Greeks firstly gave human shape to Buddha but also Greek style. Main characteristic to this style is the Appolonian element, because of the model of Apollo firstly began Buddha's face.

Just like that, we have Buddha with the folding, movement, profile and style of Apollo where we can see it in its Chinese and Birmanian forms.

We can see many times in Greco-Indian works resemplances with works of Skopas and Praxiteles. Before Alexander's era art is presenting shapes kind of gross, after Alexander's era we have a cooperation between the antrhopometric measure of Greek art with the mysticistic of East.

Even other elements like Tritones, Hippocambus and Erotes (which were discovered in today's Afghanistan from Russian excavations) are confirming the influence of Greek art which was spread so much in Asia that there were found even in Chinese Turkestan.

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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Aug-2012 at 19:14

Some Buddha statues look Grecian or Roman. His monk's robe is very similar to the classical toga and his gestures remind me of the infant Jesus
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  Quote TITAN_ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Aug-2012 at 15:23
In fact, the first statues of Buddha were made during the reign of the Indo-Greek kingdoms. 
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