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Narrative images of episodes from the life of Gautama Buddha in art have been intermittently an important part of Buddhist art, often grouped into cycles, sometimes rather large ones. However, at many times and places, images of the Buddha in art have been very largely single devotional images without narrative content from his life on Earth.
Buddhism evolved the concept of a Buddha of the Future, Maitreya, depicted in art both as a Buddha clad in a monastic robe and as a princely bodhisattva before enlightenment. Gandharan artists made use of both stone and stucco to produce such images, which were placed in nichelike shrines around the stupa of a monastery.
Tales of Buddha Shakyamuni’s past lives (jataka) are some of the most well-known narratives in Himalayan culture and are often presented in a series of paintings, with each painting depicting a part of the collection of stories.
Aug 25, 2023 · Carved out of grey schist between the late second and early third century CE in Kushan Gandhara in north-western South Asia, the relief panels show four landmark scenes from the life of the Buddha. Originally part of a large stupa, they probably adorned the medhi or the harmika, an enclosure at the apex of the central mound.
The Mural Scene. This image shows a small detail depicting a prominent scene from the Buddha’s life prior to his enlightenment: his renunciation of royal trappings and escape from the family palace. The complex arrangement presents several stages of narrative within a single visual field.
Because no single account of the Buddha's life survives, many Indian texts, most notably the Lalitavistara and the Buddhacarita, have been used to inspire artists seeking to represent important events from the Buddha's biography. Narrations were also composed in China and ancient Tibet.
The Buddha—that is, the “Enlightened One”—lived nearly 2500 years ago in northern India. His followers have always seen his life as a shining example to all, but what “really happened” is now impossible to know for certain. Even the earliest stories of his life include miraculous events that may seem hard to take literally.
