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Buddhist Art

"Every artist finds certain visual possibilities before him, to which he is bound. Not

everything is possible at all times" (Wölfflin, p.54) refers to how an artist cannot rest their

content in an isolated manner despite the acuteness of the object. For instance, the formal

attention that is shown towards one art may contribute to an artist's interest in another similar art.

Despite the attempts by an artist to recreate art, the artist remains idealistic due to their

fascination with historical designs.

The pillars of Ashoka are about 40-50 feet tall. They include a shaft cut from two

different types of stone. One stone is for the shaft while the other one is for the capital. The pole

was almost made from a single stone which was cut and dragged by labourers from Mathura and

Chunar quarries in Ashoka's empire in Northern India. The pillars are nearly 50 tons each.

Currently, many of the pillars exist as fragments, and only 19 of them live as a whole sculpture.

These sculptures were raised by Ashoka who was one of the earliest Buddhist converts. Ashoka

raised the pillars as a way of conveying his new faith to inhabitants of the empire. On those

pillars, there are scribing of the achievements of emperor Ashoka. The following emperor by the
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same name believed in Buddhism and was thus the first prominent patron of Buddhist art. The

pillars were among the first arts of Ashoka.

On some pillars, there were proclamations. These are widely referred to as edicts. The

edicts were carved into the faces of the pillars, caves and rocks which marked his kingdom. The

pillars that had proclamations on them were placed along trade routes and cities where a lot of

people would access them. They were also set in the area of Buddha's Enlightenment and the site

where the first sermon of Buddha took place, Sarnath. Some inscriptions on the pillars named

Ashoka as the patron to Buddhism. One of the significance of the inscriptions is that they

asserted the support of Ashoka towards Buddhism. They also signified his will to spread the

teachings of Buddha throughout his empire. The edicts, however, suggest that Ashoka did not

have a deep understanding of Buddhist teachings since they outlined nothing associated with the

Buddhism philosophy.

Ashoka may have chosen to use pillars in his art as they were already in use by other

Indian artists. The pillar was a representation of the axis on which the earth spins. There is also a

possibility that the art was borrowed from Persians who were in search of work in the Indian

Territory. In Persia, the use of pillars in the art industry was already widespread. The pillars are

evidence of the first Buddhist faith. The writings on the pillars represent the desires of Ashoka to

spread his faith throughout the empire. The pillars assisted Ashoka in informing his reforms to

the people and encouraging them to lead a moral life but not to illustrate Buddhism believes.

Carvings of animals sit at the tops of the pillars. All pillars are also topped with inverted

lotus flowers. The lotus flowers are the most significant symbols of Buddhism. The lotus flower

and the animal sculpture sitting on top of each pillar are the topmost part of the pillar known as

the capital. The animals sitting on top of the pillars are mainly lions. The lion portrays the clan
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into which the Buddha was born, Shakya (lion clan). The lion also symbolizes leadership or

royalty. The animals are curved from a single piece of stone and are often round.

The lotus flowers rise from mud water and bloom flawlessly on the surface. This

character is the analogy for Buddhism. People living with challenges in their everyday lives with

the recurrent cycles of birth and rebirth can achieve Enlightenment (knowledge on the way of

being released from samsara) by following the four noble truths of the Buddha.

The Maurya period records a point in time when most of the monuments were

commissioned. It was during this period that the first Buddhist art was created after the images of

the Buddha. There are no Buddha images from the Maurya period that exist today. An era

without idols may have existed during the emergence of Buddhist art. During this era, there

might have been prohibitions against recreating the image of real Buddha thus making artists to

result in other forms of depicting Buddha. The artists in this era portrayed Buddhist festivals

using aniconic symbols.

From the above case, it is clear that the formal attention shown towards one art may

contribute to an artist's interest in another similar art. For instance, the Persians' pillar art may

have inspired into recreating the aniconic representation of the Buddha. The artists also remain

idealistic due to their fascination with historical designs. Ashoka recreates an iconic figure of the

Buddha by topping pillars with lotus flowers and lion sculpture which are symbolic to the

carving of Buddha.
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Works Cited
Wölfflin, Heinrich. Principles of art history. na, 1915.