Gupta Buddha Images, The Gupta Style of the Buddha & its influence in Asia

This sculpture can be assigned to the late 6th or early 7th century, a period in which the Gupta Dynasty-style of northern and north eastern India was at its summit.

The Gupta period (4th to 6th century) is noted as a time during which the quintessential Buddha image was created, becoming an iconic form which was disseminated and copied throughout the Asian Buddhist world. Gupta style stands at a crossroads in art historical developments in the sub-continent.

The Gupta style embodies the earlier figurative styles of north and North West India (Mathura and Gandhara), while achieving a new power and sophistication. It is noted for the full, sensuous modelling of faces and bodies, for a subtlety of expression and for the harmonious proportions of its figures. During these centuries the workshops at Sarnath, a monastic complex built on the site of the Buddha's first sermon, became especially artistically influential. A particular type of standing Buddha image was produced here whose body is covered by a diaphanous robe, which clings to the figure while flaring at the sides. This was to become the prototype for a multitude of later images including the Radiant Buddha.

At Mathura, another important northern Indian artistic centre, other standing images were produced in which the folds of the garment were prominently shown. The Radiant Buddha therefore shows an ancestry embracing both traditions, it reveals the long flaring transparent garment of Sarnath and at the same time the prominent folds of Mathura.

Though the Indian Gupta style is confined historically to the 4th to late 6th centuries, the immediate north Indian legacy of the style, sometimes referred to as the Post-Gupta style, extends into the 7th and 8th centuries, the time-frame to which this sculpture belongs. The image is close in style to the large bronze standing Buddha of the 7th-8th century discovered at Sultanganj in eastern India during the mid 19th century and now housed in the Birmingham Museum. The other two surviving standing bronze Buddha images of the same date and style are held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The Gupta style, and its related Buddha images, were to be highly influential for the many regional schools of sculpture that arose in later periods all over the Indian subcontinent. Its influence can be discerned in the sculptures of eastern and northern India from the 8th to the 12th centuries (Pala Dynasty) and felt in the Himalyan kingdoms of Nepal during the 5th to 9th centuries (Licchavi Dynasty), Kashmir (7th to the 14th centuries) and in Tibet from the 11th onwards. But the significance of the Gupta-style Buddha reached far beyond the Indian subcontinent itself. It was carried with the teachings of the Buddha throughout Asia and laid the foundation for images produced in Tang China, (7th to 10th centuries) and in the Hindu-Buddhist states of Southeast Asia.

(http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/asia_features/buddhism/radiant_buddha/style/index.html)

Buddha Image Under the Guptas

Under the benevolent patronage and inspiration of the Gupta rulers (320 - 646 AD), the art of sculpture attained its all-time height. The Buddha images of Mathura and Gandhara phases were definitely magnificent and gorgeous, but the Gupta images were not only different but also without a parallel before and after. In accordance with the artistic perception of a spiritual image and of the era, these Buddha images of the subsequent period have enshrining on their faces a kind of celestial calm, serenity, a gentle smile, divine glow and unique composure. (illus) With a distinction of its own, there developed at Sarnath a great center of Buddhism and Buddhist art. Sarnath came out with its own image of Buddha, unique in its spiritual perception and enchanting in aesthetic glow. There enshrines upon the lips of Sarnath Buddha image a gentle celestial smile and on the calm oval face the lyrical tenderness of a full blooming rose. It has retained the long earlobes of the Mathura image but its massive physiognomy has been replaced by a tender slender figure with long arms and fine delicate long fingers. The robe has greater transparency as has a wet silk garment. The image has greater thematic thrust and is more expressive. Embellishment becomes more pronounced and the earlier halo has now a more decorative character.

http://new.exoticindiaart.com/article/lordbuddha