Gandharan Art

The expression “Gandharan art” refers to the documented artistic production, starting from the 1st century CE, of the Gandhara region, which included modern northern Pakistan and part of eastern Afghanistan. This particular artistic production is almost entirely represented by stone or plaster reliefs of Buddhist subjects, featuring stylistic and iconographic characteristics of various origins: Indian, Iranian, and Hellenistic. The materials used are stone, “stucco,” and clay. The chronology of Gandharan art is still debated. While the beginning dates from the 1st century CE, scholars are not in agreement over the duration of the artistic productions of Gandhara. Conventionally, the end is dated to the 4th–5th century CE, even if there are echoes of Gandharan production up to the 7th–8th century CE. This article does not intend to provide a comprehensive bibliography of Gandharan art. Bibliographical references listed here are representative and serve as a guide to some of the more important and interesting books and articles about Gandharan art and related issues. Even though this article is published within the Buddhism module, a section is also dedicated to non-Buddhist subjects in Gandharan art.