Research On The Sarnath Buddhist Statues Of The Gupta Dynasty

Gupta Dynasty has been known as�the Golden Age of Indian Art�,when the Sarnath-style Buddha image was one of the most significant heritages.Moreover,Sarnath was one of the three major Buddha image centers in India,the other two being Gandhara and Mathura.Sarnath-style Buddha images made in Gupta Dynasty was regarded as�the Classical Buddha�,and therefore influenced the Buddhist art of East-south Asia,South Asia,and Central Asia.The author of this dissertation has researched 71 existing pieces of Sarnath Buddha images from Gupta period.By the comparing study with the counterparts in Mathura,the development and influence of Sarnath Buddhist art were clarified.This dissertation contains four sections: the first section dated the existing Sarnath Buddhist art of Maurya Dynasty and Kushana Dynasty,providing the referential source for the development of Sarnath Buddhist art;the second section traced the style aspect of Sarnath Buddhist art,and analyzed the style features of Buddha images,Bodhisattva images and scenes from the life of the Buddha from Sarnath by five consecutive phases in Gupta period;the third part illustrated the difference between Mathura-style and Sarnath-style by the face,garment,halo,mudra and attribute of Buddha and Bodhisattva,further clarifying the characteristic and value of Sarnath-style;the fourth focused on Sarnath-style's influence and outlined the area under the influence,including Nepal,Thailand,Cambodia,China,and et cetera.