A STUCCO PANEL OF BUDDHA SURROUNDED BY BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS


ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 4TH/5TH CENTURYInset sections on a later wooden panel. 111 cm (43 3/4 in.) high;156.5 cm (61 1/2 in.) wide
|Buddha meditates at the center of this exceptionally rare stucco panel. He wears a heavy pleated robe draped naturalistically over his body, and his hair is molded in wavy locks before a nimbus. A canopy surviving in five sections arches over his head. The remaining two sections on either side display twenty-three buddhas and bodhisattvas emanating from him, each modeled differently from the other in a joyous congregation. This panel's rare and important subject matter, showing other buddhas and bodhisattvas emanating from a principal Buddha, relates to a group of Gandharan sculptures eagerly discussed by scholars. Among these sculptures is the famous 'Muhammad Nari Stele', which shows a similar emanating scene in its top right corner (Luczanits (ed.), The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan, New York, 2011, p.163, no.68). Harrison and Luczanits survey competing interpretations of the Muhammad Nari Stele (Harrison & Luczanits, "New Light on (and from) the Muhammad Nari Stele", in BARC, International Symposium Series 1, Otani University, 2011, pp.69-127). Proposed by Foucher in 1909, the first interpretation sees the emanating buddhas representing Shakyamuni's 'Great Miracle at Sravasti', an episode from his life story where he multiplied his form a million-fold in front of dumfounded critics from prevailing philosophical schools (for further discussion, see Brown, "The Sravasti Miracles in the Art of India and Dvaravati", in Archives of Asian Art, no.37, 1984, pp.79-95). More recently, scholars have reinterpreted the scene, positing that it depicts either Shakyamuni or Amitabha joined by congregations of buddhas and bodhisattvas in their celestial abodes. Harrison and Luczanits lean in favor of such an interpretation, while also highlighting the difficulties of matching incomplete records of Gandharan art and textual references. Nonetheless, they emphasize that such emanating scenes are among the clearest early artistic representations of the expansive worldview of Mahayana Buddhism: "There can be no doubt that [these] representations are an expression of two different types of buddhahood, that of a nirmanakaya Buddha active in this world and that of a more exalted Buddha-manifestation beyond our common world" (ibid., p.108). Thus, the authors concur with many scholars that such Gandharan panels were forerunners to the famous mural of Amitabha surrounded by fifty bodhisattvas in Sukhavati Heaven in Cave 232 at Dunhuang (see Luczanits (ed.), 2011, p.68, fig.4). Stucco sections of closely related figures beside a meditating Buddha, collected from the prominent ancient site of Hadda in modern-day Afghanistan, are preserved in the Musée Guimet (Afghanistan, Paris, 2001, p.131, no.61). The Peshawar Museum has at least eight stone panels that show similar Emanating Buddha motifs (Ali & Qazi, Gandharan Sculptures in the Peshawar Museum, Manserah, 2008, pp.166-73). If we consider that the present large stucco panel likely would have constituted only a small part of a sophisticated ensemble, as in the case of Muhammad Nari Stele, then we are prompted to imagine how amazing and brilliant the sculpted walls of these major Buddhist monuments along the ancient Silk Road would have been.   Published Nancy Tingley, Buddha, Sacramento, 2009, p.10, fig.7.   Provenance Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1990 The Elizabeth and Willard Clark Collection, California 泥塑佛碑 犍陀羅，四/五世紀嵌於後製木板。高111釐米（43 3/4 英吋）; 寬156.5釐米（61 1/2 英吋）3,000,000-5,000,000港元此塊極為罕見的泥塑碑刻劃佛陀雙手結禪定印於正中。身著通肩式厚重袈裟，衣褶刻劃巧妙，頭髮自然捲曲。佛首上拱型處存留下五節華蓋。佛陀兩側展示出二十三尊佛陀及菩薩，樣貌各異，雀躍而集。 這一由諸佛及菩薩圍繞主佛的主題重要而稀少，相關的一組犍陀羅造像亦成為學者們熱切討論的研究對象。在這些雕塑中最為著名的是"穆罕默德納里石碑"（Muhammad Nari Stele），石碑右上角刻劃了類似本作品的場景（Luczanits（編），《The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan》，紐約，2011年，頁163，68號）。Harrison和Luczanits對學者們就穆罕默德納里石碑的不同觀點進行了研究（Harrison & Luczanits，"New Light on（and from）the Muhammad Nari Stele"，《BARC, International Symposium Series》，大谷大學，2011年，頁69-127）。福什（Foucher）在1909年對此主題提出了第一個解釋，認為其詮釋了釋迦牟尼的"舍衛城神變"，即佛陀為馴服外道六師，在舍衛城施展神變分百萬身的故事（詳細內容參見Brown, "The Sravasti Miracles in the Art of India and Dvaravati", 於《Archives of Asian Art》，37期，1984年，頁79-95）。 近期，學者們對此一場景提出了新的詮釋，認為其描繪了釋迦牟尼或阿彌陀佛在天宮被諸佛陀菩薩們相伴隨的景像。Harrison和Luczanits傾向於這樣的解析，同時也強調了僅憑不完整的犍陀羅藝術和參考文獻記錄進行研究的困難。儘管如此，他們指出這類場景是大乘佛教廣闊的世界觀中最鮮明的早期藝術表現形式之一:"毫無疑問，[這些] 表現了兩種不同類型的成佛，即在現世活躍的應身（nirmanakaya）佛和我們所處世界之外的天界佛"（同上，頁108）。因此，兩位作者同意多數學者的觀點，認為此類犍陀羅作品是敦煌232窟中描繪阿彌陀佛在淨土中被五十位菩薩包圍的壁畫的先驅（見Luczanits（編），2011年，68頁，圖4）。 吉美博物館保存了從現今阿富汗著名的古代遺址哈達所收集的相似作品（《Afghanistan》，巴黎，2001年，頁131，61號）。白沙瓦博物館有至少八塊展示了類似場景的石碑（Ali & Qazi，《Gandharan Sculptures in the Peshawar Museum》，曼色拉，2008年，頁166-73）。考慮到此件作品可能只是構成一個複雜雕塑的一小部分，就像穆罕默德納里石碑一樣，不禁驚嘆古代絲綢之路上的這類佛教古蹟曾經是多麼地輝煌壯觀。 著錄 Nancy Tingley，《Buddha》，撒卡拉曼都，2009年，頁10，圖7。 來源 Spink & Son Ltd.，倫敦 ，1990 年Elizabeth與Willard Clark夫婦收藏，加州