Buddhist art developed in Asia from the philosophies of the Buddhist religion and the influences of local and foreign art styles. The first remaining Buddhist art work is dated nearly three hundred years after Buddha was born. The oldest structures and art are found in caves, statues, and mounds called stupas. The challenge artists faced when creating art was the struggle between conveying meaning and Buddha’s teachings without depicting Buddha himself. In early Buddha philosophy he was not a god and not meant to be worshiped as one. There is an evolution of Buddhist art from the use of symbols to depictions of person himself. The earliest art found of Buddhism is architecture. Simple caves with inscriptions and basic stupas --rock mounds/domes
…show more content…
Artists began to create human images of Buddha. The first of these being Bodhisattvas which were again the past lives of the Buddha. Some of Buddha’s past lives included noblemen and princes which artists sometimes took to elaborate heights.However, once human images were made soon followed creations of the historical Buddha. Here artist had no portrait to base their works on as by the point of human depictions of Buddha more than three hundred years had passed since his death. Artist worked from their imaginations and their training. “...the figure was idealized, though in different ways Gandhara artists modified Greco-Roman images of Apollo and deified Roman emperors with certain Indianized features, while Mathura artist portrayed him as a yogi with an idealized body” (147). Different images were created and though they mixed details the overall archetype was developed.“...stylistic variations and ethnic diversity notwithstanding, the image remained that of an elegantly serene, contemplative, yogi engaged in solitary meditation with unflinching concentration” (148). The timeline of Buddhist art developed from symbols to personified animals, to the nobility of Buddha’s past lives, to demigod recreations of the historical Buddha, and finally to an understanding of an meditative monk. Standing Bodhisattva from the Gandhara Region, The Friar Bala Statue from Mathura, and The Seated Preaching Buddha from Sarnath show the some of the evolution of the human images of
Artists began to create human images of Buddha. The first of these being Bodhisattvas which were again the past lives of the Buddha. Some of Buddha’s past lives included noblemen and princes which artists sometimes took to elaborate heights.However, once human images were made soon followed creations of the historical Buddha. Here artist had no portrait to base their works on as by the point of human depictions of Buddha more than three hundred years had passed since his death. Artist worked from their imaginations and their training. “...the figure was idealized, though in different ways Gandhara artists modified Greco-Roman images of Apollo and deified Roman emperors with certain Indianized features, while Mathura artist portrayed him as a yogi with an idealized body” (147). Different images were created and though they mixed details the overall archetype was developed.“...stylistic variations and ethnic diversity notwithstanding, the image remained that of an elegantly serene, contemplative, yogi engaged in solitary meditation with unflinching concentration” (148). The timeline of Buddhist art developed from symbols to personified animals, to the nobility of Buddha’s past lives, to demigod recreations of the historical Buddha, and finally to an understanding of an meditative monk. Standing Bodhisattva from the Gandhara Region, The Friar Bala Statue from Mathura, and The Seated Preaching Buddha from Sarnath show the some of the evolution of the human images of