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As part of
the dedicated international project, IICAS announces its publication of the book
titled "Iconographic Symbolism and the Socio-Religious Background to Siddhartha
Gautama’s (the Buddha’s) Global Mission as presented in Gandhara".
The Buddhist
civilization is, in effect, the history of a cosmopolitan society. The latter was
made up of the various surrounding ethnic groups. The highly variegated styles
in its art, sprouting from the multiple scientific schools, became a keenly interesting
and effective means of expression of stories from the life of the Buddha.
The Gandhara
sculpture is a style of the Buddhist art that was being developed in what now is
the Northwest Pakistan and Eastern Afghanistan approximately from the 1st till the
7th century A.D. The sculpture represents several strands of thought, due to
the fact that it has been exposed to various cultural streams and artistic
influences over the centuries from Persia to the Graeco-Roman World. These
influences had polished the native art to such an extent that a unique example
of art emerged, which combined the qualities of the East with those of the West,
and these influences were so obvious that they became a salient feature or even
a hallmark of the Gandhara art.
The book is
dedicated to some of the selected conspicuous episodes from the life of the Buddha,
carved in stone in the many parts of Gandhara, with the relevant sculptures now
kept in the various museum collections around the world.
The publication is especially aimed at researchers, university students and the broader audience interested in history, in general, and the art of Buddhism, in particular.
The electronic version of this book
is available at:https://www.unesco-iicas.org/book/134
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