The Global Connections of Gandharan Art, ed. by Wannaporn Rienjang, Peter Stuart

Gandhāran art is often regarded as the epitome of cultural exchange in antiquity. The ancient region of Gandhāra, centred on what is now the northern tip of Pakistan, has been called the ‘crossroads of Asia’. The Buddhist art produced in and around this area in the first few centuries AD exhibits extraordinary connections with other traditions across Asia and as far as the Mediterranean. Since the nineteenth century, the Graeco-Roman associations of Gandhāran art have attracted particular attention. Classically educated soldiers and administrators of that era were astonished by the uncanny resemblance of many works of Gandhāran sculpture to Greek and Roman art made thousands of miles to the west. More than a century later we can recognize that the Gandhāran artists’ appropriation of classical iconography and styles was diverse and extensive, but the explanation of this ‘influence’ remains puzzling and elusive. The Gandhāra Connections project at the University of Oxford’s Classical Art Research Centre was initiated principally to cast new light on this old problem.

This volume is the third set of proceedings of the project’s annual workshop, and the first to address directly the question of cross-cultural influence on and by Gandhāran art. The contributors wrestle with old controversies, particularly the notion that Gandhāran art is a legacy of Hellenistic Greek rule in Central Asia and the growing consensus around the important role of the Roman Empire in shaping it. But they also seek to present a more complex and expansive view of the networks in which Gandhāra was embedded. Adopting a global perspective on the subject, they examine aspects of Gandhāra’s connections both within and beyond South Asia and Central Asia, including the profound influence which Gandhāran art itself had on the development of Buddhist art in China and India.

About the Editors
Wannaporn Rienjang obtained her doctorate in Archaeology from University of Cambridge. She is now Lecturer in Archaeology, Museum and Heritage Studies at the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University and a project consultant for the Gandhāra Connections Project at the Classical Art Research Centre, Oxford. Her research focuses on the art and archaeology of Greater Gandhāra, Indian Ocean Trade and ancient working technologies of stone beads and vessels. ;

Peter Stewart is Director of the Classical Art Research Centre and Associate Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford. He has worked widely in the field of ancient sculpture. His publications include Statues in Roman Society: Representation and Response (2003) and The Social History of Roman Art (2008). Much of his research concerns the relationship between Gandhāran art and Roman sculpture.

Table of Contents: (follow links to download individual papers)
Preface – Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart (vi-vii): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-1 ;

Part 1 Global perspectives ;
Gandhāra perceptions: the orbit of Gandhāran studies – Warwick Ball (1-25): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-2 ;

Part 2 The Graeco-Roman connection ;
On the crossroads of disciplines: Tonio Hölscher’s theory of understanding Roman art images and its implications for the study of western influence(s) in Gandhāran art – Martina Stoye (29-49): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-3 ;
Roman sarcophagi and Gandhāran sculpture – Peter Stewart (50-85): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-4 ;
The transmission of Dionysiac imagery to Gandhāran Buddhist art – Tadashi Tanabe (86-101): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-5 ;

Part 3 Asian influences ;
Buddha on the Rocks: Gandhāran connections through the Karakorum mountains – M. E. J. J. van Aerde, A. D. L. Mohns, and A. G. Khan (105-134): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-6 ;
Buddhist temples in Tukhāristān and their relationships with Gandhāran traditions – Shumpei Iwai (135-155): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-7 ;
More Gandhāra than Mathurā: substantial and persistent Gandhāran influences provincialized in the Buddhist material culture of Gujarat and beyond, c. AD 400-550 – Ken Ishikawa (156-204): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-8 ;

Part 4 Gandhāra and China ;
Cross-cultural Buddhist monastery ruins on the Silk Road and beyond: the layout and function of Buddhist monasteries reconsidered – Joy Yi Lidu (207-233): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-11 ;
The sinicization and secularization of some Graeco-Buddhist gods in China – Juping Yang (234-247): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-9 ;

Part 5 Epilogue ;
De-fragmenting Gandhāran art: advancing analysis through digital imaging and visualization – Ian Haynes, Iwan Peverett, Wannaporn Rienjang with contributions by Luca M. Olivieri (251-264): DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950-10