The Atlas of Gandhara

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

It can be said of today's art that it is international. This is not really new: 1800 years ago, in Gandhara, same comment applied.

Gandhara was a transition zone between Persia and Central Asia, near Bactria and Kashmir. Located in the upper basin of the Indus, its main town was Peshawar. After the expedition of Alexander the Great, the region experienced a sustainable Hellenistic influence, which did not stop when it converted to Buddhism.

The schist statues from Gandhara are very common. They are most often showing Buddhist figures, so offering some of the oldest elements of Buddhist art. Therefore, our curiosity is attracted by the unusual subject presented by Christie's in New York on March 20: a winged Atlas, polished gray schist 40 cm high, estimated 120 K $.

It is a naked man crouched on one knee, very muscular as it is needed for his exhausting mission through which our planet has not collapsed in the cosmos. The realistic and relaxed head is decorated with a large circled beard and with hair of the same pattern.

Despite the rather Greek attributes of this hero, Buddhism is not far away. The catalog tells us that it was probably an ornament at the base of a Buddhist monument. The wings are the symbols of victory according to an Indian influence.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The result is interesting. It rewards the originality and the old time of this sculpture: K $ 170 inclusive.