RAS question
Mathura school of art during the Kushan period is distinguished from Gandhara art by:
Correct answer: (A) Indigenous Indian style using red sandstone.
During the Kushan period, the Mathura school of art is distinguished from Gandhara art by its indigenous Indian style and its use of red spotted sandstone.
Explanation
Mathura art stands apart from Gandhara art because it grew from a strong local Indian sculptural tradition, while Gandhara shows Hellenistic and Greco-Roman features. NCERT describes Mathura as an important art-production centre from the first century CE and notes that the Buddha image at Mathura was modelled on earlier Yaksha images, unlike Gandhara images with Hellenistic features. Mathura works used red spotted sandstone. Its Buddha figure is presented in a yogic seated posture, with a shaved head and transparent robes, making the style visually different from the Greco-Roman-influenced treatment associated with Gandhara.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Mathura art was not only abstract art; NCERT discusses recognisable Buddha images with specific bodily posture, robe treatment and sculptural features.
- (C) The defining material is red spotted sandstone, so reducing Mathura art to only bronze sculptures contradicts the stated basis of the style.
- (D) Marble is not the material identified for Mathura art here; red spotted sandstone is the distinguishing material.
Concept
This tests the art-history comparison between regional schools of early Buddhist sculpture in the post-Mauryan and Kushan period. RAS often asks this because Mathura and Gandhara are a standard contrast between indigenous Indian idioms and north-western Greco-Roman influence.