Seated_Buddha_from_Gandhara
Seated Buddha from Gandhara
Gandharan sculpture in the British Museum
The Seated Buddha from Gandhara is an early surviving statue of the Buddha discovered at the site of Jamal Garhi in ancient Gandhara in modern-day Pakistan, that dates to the 2nd or 3rd century AD during the Kushan Empire. Statues of the "enlightened one" were not made until the 1st century CE. Before that, Buddha were generally represented by aniconic symbols.[1] Like other Gandharan, Greco-Buddhist art, and Kushan art, the statue shows influence from Ancient Greek art depicting Buddhist themes. The sculpture is now in room 22 of the British Museum, catalogued as 1895, 1026.1.[2]