The Bagri Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of “The Global Connections of Gandhāran Art” as part of the Gandhāra Connections Project that the Foundation is proud to have been supporting since 2016.
The newly released free-to-download publication, edited by Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart, presents the proceedings of the Third International Workshop of the Gandhāra Connections Project held on 18th-19th March 2019 and organised by the University of Oxford’s Classical Art Research Centre.
‘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’.
For more information and to download the full PDF visit: https://bit.ly/3bn0Zoh
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.
About the Classical Art Research Centre
The Classical Art Research Centre, Oxford University, leads and supports research on ancient art. At its heart is the Beazley Archive, which includes the world’s largest collection of images of ancient figure-decorated pottery.
