Hindu and Buddhist Art

Across India, the Himalayas and Southeast Asia, sculpture and painting gave visible form to gods, Buddhas and bodhisattvas for worship in temples, monasteries and household shrines. From the Greco-Buddhist carvings of Gandhara to the Chola bronzes of Tamil Nadu and the stone deities of Angkor, artists followed canonical proportions and a precise vocabulary of gestures, postures and attributes. The ideal body is smooth, full of inner breath and poised either in movement or in deep calm.