History Of The Gupta Empire: The Golden Age Of Rome

Founded by Maharaja Sri Gupta in 320 AD, the Gupta empire would last until about 550 AD, consuming most of Northern India before breaking apart. The Gupta Empire would be later coined The Golden age of India (Harle 5) for its brilliant developments in Indian art, sculpture, literature, and architecture. These advances were mostly a result of the wealth of the country during the time of the Guptas, and led to new styles in Buddhist art. As with artistic movements before the Gupta Empire Period, sculpture plays a major role as an artistic medium. The beginning of the Gupta Period saw mainly stone sculpture, but would evolve to metal materials toward the end of the empire. The Gandhara style had advanced dramatically during the Gupta empire, and reached a stylistic peak in Sarnath. This style led to the sculptural style seen mostly in the Gupta …show more content…
These sculptures depict what would become one of the most commonly used, and even stereotyped forms of the Buddha, before the fattened, jolly Chinese form of the Buddha would appear. These sculptures show a Buddha with sagging earlobes, bowed eyelids, high eyebrows, oval face with a dominant lower lip, and the form-fitting garment. The lotus position as shown in the Preaching Buddha sculpture is also very much a stylistic trend that would become stereotypical of the Buddha figure. In both sculptures, Buddha's head is surrounded with a large halo to signify the religious nature of the Buddha (www.metmuseum.org), as is seen in later Christian artwork. While it would seem that some of the features of these sculptures might also resemble those seen in Archaic style