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Mes ʽAynak and the Art of Gandhara

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2016

Abstract

The sculpture from Mes Aynak is an essential corpus of material for the study of early Buddhist art in general, and the study of the late phase of Gandharan art in particular. The palette of materials used, the excellent state of preservation of the works, especially of the fragile clay sculptures and their polychromy, the interesting decorative elements, and the authentic provenance are all why the statues and reliefs from Mes Aynak continue to arouse interest.

Thanks to the Prague exhibition, they can now be shared with the general public. We may hope that in addition to the objects published here, the complete group of finds kept in the National Museum in Kabul is studied and published in the future.