Masarh lion

Masarh lion
The Masarh lion, in the Patna Museum. For a recent photograph:
Shown within India
Masarh lion (Bihar)
Location Bhojpur District, Bihar, India.
Coordinates 25°33′28″N 84°34′41″E / 25.5578°N 84.5780°E / 25.5578; 84.5780Coordinates: 25°33′28″N 84°34′41″E / 25.5578°N 84.5780°E / 25.5578; 84.5780

The Masarh lion is a stone sculpture found at Masarh, a town in the Bhojpur district, Bihar, India, about 57 km west of Patna, the ancient Pataliputra.[1] This sculpture is generally dated from the 3rd century B.C.

Description and interpretation

The lion is carved in Chunar sandstone, like the Pillars of Ashoka, and has a polished finish, a feature associated with Maurya sculpture.[1] The sculptural style is unquestionably Achaemenid.[1] This is particularly the case for the well-ordered tubular representation of whiskers (vibrissas) and the geometrical representation of inflated veins flush with the entire face.[1] The mane, on the other hand, with tufts of hair represented in wavelets, is rather naturalistic.[1]

According to archaeologist S.P. Gupta, these stylistic features can be described as non-Indian.[1] Very similar examples are however known in Greece and Persepolis.[1] It is possible that this sculpture was made by an Achaemenid or Greek sculptor in India and either remained without effect, or was the Indian imitation of a Greek or Achaemenid model, somewhere between the fifth century B.C. and the first century B.C., although it is generally dated from the time of the Maurya Empire, around the 3rd century B.C.[1]

Achaemenid Examples
Greek Examples

Later developments

According to John Boardman, the sculpture of the Marsarh lion is "quite Persian", although the treatment of the mane is rather of Greek naturalistic style and breaks with the rigid and codified style of the Achaemenid Empire.[2] For him, the Lion Capital of Ashoka from Sarnath represents the next logical step in the art, and would be the realization of Greek Hellenistic artists to soften and give more naturalness to the Persian style.[2]

Other examples of stylistic influence

The sculpture of the Masarh lion, found near the Maurya capital of Pataliputra, raises the question of the Achaemenid and Greek influence on the art of the Maurya Empire, and on the western origins of stone carving in India. Other examples include the Pataliputra capital, the Hellenistic friezes of the Rampurva capitals and Sankissa, and the diamond throne of Bodh Gaya.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The roots of Indian Art, Gupta, p. 88
  2. 1 2 The Origins of Indian Stone Architecture, 1998, John Boardman p. 18.
  3. ↑ The Origins of Indian Stone Architecture, 1998, John Boardman p. 13-22.
  4. ↑ "A griffin carved from milky white chalcedony represents a blend of Greek and Achaemenid Persian cultures", National Geographic, Volume 177, National Geographic Society, 1990
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