100-300 AD. Gandharan. An amazing large Gandhara panel made of red schist with a scene from the life of Buddha. The Buddha is placed at the center of the composition seated in dhyanasana upon a pedestal with his arms folded in his lap, the face with downcast eyes, flanked by adoring attendant figures dressed in robes with finely incised folds, all within a pointed arch with floral and dentilated bands. One of the attendants draws a sword, identifying him as Angulimala, a ruthless criminal who is completely transformed after a conversion to Buddhism, thereby embodying Buddha’s transformative and redemptive power as a teacher. Gandhara was an ancient region in the Peshawar basin in the north-west of the ancient Indian subcontinent. The Kushan period (c. 75-451 AD) of Gandharan art, to which this example belongs, was the golden age of artistic production in the area. For further discussion on Gandharan art, see Jongeward, D. 2019, Buddhist Art Of Gandhara in the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Good condition.Size: L:615mm / W:720mm ; 80+kg; Provenance; Property of a Central London gallery, obtained from a private London collection (M.A); formerly acquired on the UK art market in the 1970s and 80s.