Kushan art

Art of Gandhara under the Kushans

Kushan art blended the traditions of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, influenced by Hellenistic artistic canons, and the more Indian art of Mathura. Most of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara is thought to have been produced by the Kushans, starting from the end of the 1st century CE.

The Kushans were eclectic in their religions, venerating tens of Gods from Iranian, Greek, or Indian traditions as can be seen on their coins. It is thought that this tolerant religious climate, together with an openness towards visual arts encouraged the creation of innovative figural art in the Jain, Buddhist, and Brahmanic traditions. The Buddha was only represented with symbols in earlier Indian art as in Sanchi or Bharhut. The first known representations of the Buddha seem to appear before the arrival of the Kushans, as shown with the Bimaran casket, but Buddhist art undoubtedly flourished under their rule, and most of the known early statues of the Buddha dated to the period of the Kushans.

The characteristics of early Kushan art in depicting the Buddha can be ascertained through the study of several statues bearing dated inscriptions. Some statues of the standing Buddha with inscriptions dating them to 143 CE, such as the Loriyan Tangai buddha, show that the features of that time are already rather late and somewhat degenerate compared to more classical types: the figure of the Buddha is comparatively more stout, shorter and broader, the drapery is already not as three-dimensional, and the head is large and broad-jawed.

Numerous Kushan devotees, with their characteristic Central Asia costume, can be seen on the Buddhist statuary of Gandhara and Mathura:

Art of Mathura under the Kushans

From the time of Vima Kadphises or Kanishka I the Kushans established one of their capitals at Mathura in northern India. Mathura already had an important artistic tradition by that time, but the Kushan greatly developed its production, especially through Buddhist art. A few sculptures of the Buddha, such as the "Isapur Buddha" are known from Mathura from circa 15 CE, well before the arrival of the Kushans, at a time when the Northern Satrap Sodasa still ruled in Mathura, but the style and symbolism of these early depictions were still tentative. The Kushans standardized the symbolism of these early Buddha statues, developing their attributes and aesthetic qualities in an exuberant manner and on an unprecedentedly large scale.

Bodhisattvas

The style of the statues of Bodhisattvas at Mathura is somewhat reminiscent of the earlier monumental Yaksha statues, usually dated one or two centuries earlier. The Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, although belonging to the same realm under the Kushans, seems to have had only limited influence on these creations. Some authors consider that Hellenistic influence appears in the liveliness and the realistic details of the figures (an evolution compared to the stiffness of Mauryan art), the use of perspective from 150 BCE, iconographical details such as the knot and the club of Heracles, the wavy folds of the dresses, or the depiction of bacchanalian scenes. The art of Mathura became extremely influential over the rest of India, and was "the most prominent artistic production center from the second century BCE".

Standing Buddhas

The Mathura standing Buddha seems to be a slightly later development compared to the Bodhisattvas of the type of the Bala Bodhisattva. Although several are dated to the 2nd century CE, they often tend to display characteristics that would become the hallmark of Gupta art, especially the very thin dress seemingly sticking to the body of the Buddha. These statues of the standing Buddha however tend to display characteristic and attitudes more readily seen in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara: the head of the Buddha is surrounded by a halo, the clothing covers both shoulders, the left hand hold the gown of the Buddha while the other hand form an Abbhiya mudra, and the folds in the clothing are more typical of the Gandharan styles.

In many respect, the standing Buddha of Mathura seems to be a combination of the local sculptural tradition initiated by the Yakshas with the Hellenistic designs of the Buddhas from the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara.

Other sculptural works

The Mathura sculptures incorporate many Hellenistic elements, such as the general idealistic realism, and key design elements such as the curly hair, and folded garment. Specific Mathuran adaptations tend to reflect warmer climatic conditions, as they consist in a higher fluidity of the clothing, which progressively tends to cover only one shoulder instead of both. Facial types also tend to become more Indianized. Banerjee in Hellenism in ancient India describes "the mixed character of the Mathura School in which we find on the one hand, a direct continuation of the old Indian art of Barhut and Sanchi and on the other hand, the classical influence derived from Gandhara".

In some cases however, a clear influence from the art of Gandhara can also be felt, as in the case of the "Mathura Herakles", a Hellenistic statue of Herakles strangling the Nemean lion, discovered in Mathura, and now in the Kolkota Indian Museum, as well as Bacchanalian scenes. Although inspired from the art of Gandhara, the portraiture of Herakles is not perfectly exact and may show a lack of understanding of the subject matter, as Herakles is shown already wearing the skin of the lion he is fighting.

Hindu art at Mathura under the Kushans

Hindu art started to develop fully from the 1st to the 2nd century CE, and there are only very few examples of artistic representation before that time. Almost all of the first known instances of Hindu art have been discovered in the areas of Mathura and Gandhara. Hindu art found its first inspiration in the Buddhist art of Mathura. The three Vedic gods Indra, Brahma, and Surya were first depicted in Buddhist sculpture from the 2nd-1st century BCE, as attendants in scenes commemorating the life of the Buddha, even when the Buddha himself was not yet shown in human form but only through his symbols, such as the scenes of his Birth, his Descent from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, or his retreat in the Indrasala Cave. During the time of the Kushans, Hindu art progressively incorporated a profusion of original Hindu stylistic and symbolic elements, in contrast with the general balance and simplicity of Buddhist art. The differences appear in iconography rather than in style. It is generally considered that it is in Mathura, during the time of the Kushans, that the Brahmanical deities were given their standard form:

"To a great extent it is in the visual rendering of the various gods and goddesses of theistic Brahmanism that the Mathura artist displayed his ingenuity and inventiveness at their best. Along with almost all the major cult icons Visnu, Siva, Surya, Sakti and Ganapati, a number of subsidiary deities of the faith were given tangible form in Indian art here for the first time in an organized manner. In view of this and for the variety and multiplicity of devotional images then made, the history of Mathura during the first three centuries of the Christian era, which coincided with the rule of the Kusanas, can very well be called revolutionary in the development of Brahmanical sculpture"

— Pran Gopal Paul and Debjani Paul, in Brahmanical Imagery in the Kuṣāṇa Art of Mathurā: Tradition and Innovations

Cult images of Vāsudeva

Cult images of Vāsudeva continued to be produced during the period, the worship of this Mathuran deity being much more important than that of Vishnu until the 4th century CE. Statues dating to the 2nd and 3rd centuries show a possibly four-armed Vāsudeva standing with his attributes: the wheel, the mace, and the conch, his right hand saluting in Abhaya mudra. Only during the Gupta period, did statues focusing on the worship of Vishnu himself start to appear, using the same iconography as the statues of Vāsudeva, but with the addition of an aureole starting at the shoulders. During this time, statues of Gopala-Krishna, the other main component of the amalgamated Krishna, are absent from Mathura, suggesting the near absence of this cult in northern India down to the end of the Gupta period (6th century CE).

Some sculptures during this period suggest that the "Vyūha doctrine" (Vyūhavāda, "Doctrine of the emanations") was starting to emerge, as images of "Chatur-vyūha" (the "four emanations of Vāsudeva") are appearing. The famous "Caturvyūha" statue in Mathura Museum is an attempt to show in one composition Vāsudeva as the central deity together with the other members of the Vrishni clan of the Pancharatra system emanating from him: Samkarsana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha, with Samba missing. The back of the relief is carved with the branches of a Kadamba tree, symbolically showing the genealogical relationship being the different deities. The depiction of Vāsudeva and later Vishnu was stylistically derived from the type of the ornate Bodhisattvas, with rich jewelry and ornate headdress.

Jain art

Various dedications in the name of Kushan kings, such as Vasudeva I, with dates, appear on fragments of Jain statuary discovered in Mathura.

Chronology

The chronology of Kushan art is quite critical to the art history of the region. Fortunately, several statues are dated and have inscriptions referring to the various rulers of the Kushan Empire.

Coinage is also very important in determining the evolution of style, as in the case of the famous "Buddha" coins of Kanishka I, which are dated to his reign (c. 127–150 CE) and already displays an accomplished form of the standing Buddha, probably derived from pre-existing statuary.

While the early styles of Kushan statues seem comparatively crude, later, highly ornamented statues are generally dated to the 3rd-4th century CE.

The Brussels Buddha is one of the rare Gandharan statues with a dated inscription, and it bears the date "Year 5", possibly referring to the Kanishka era, hence 132 CE. However, its sophisticated style has led some authors to suggest a later era for the calculation of the date.

Kushan coinage

The coinage of the Kushans was abundant and an important tool of propaganda in promoting each Kushan ruler. One of the names for Kushan coins was Dinara, which ultimately came from the Roman name Denarius aureus. The coinage of the Kushans was copied as far as the Kushano-Sasanians in the west, and the kingdom of Samatata in Bengal to the east. The coinage of the Gupta Empire was also initially derived from the coinage of the Kushan Empire, adopting its weight standard, techniques, and designs, following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest. The imagery on Gupta coins then became more Indian in both style and subject matter compared to earlier dynasties, where Greco-Roman and Persian styles were mostly followed.

Influence of the Parthian cultural sphere

According to John M. Rosenfield, the statuary of the Kushans has strong similarities with the art of the Parthian cultural area. Similarities are numerous in terms of clothing, decorative elements, or posture, which tend to be massive and frontal, with feet often splayed. In particular, the statuary of Hatra, which has remained in a relatively good state of preservation, shows such similarities. This could be due either to direct cultural exchanges between the area of Mesopotamia and the Kushan Empire at that time, or from a common Parthian artistic background leading to similar types of representation.