The Buddha Head

This Buddha-head, cast in brass with gold-like lustre revealing divine aura on the face, the neck and the coiffure anodized in copper and tresses defined with dye, adheres to the great classical tradition of the fifth-sixth century Gupta sculptures in its modeling, plasticity and power to reveal sublimity and divine quiescence, and that of the Pala bronzes in its finish and perfection, is an excellent work of metal-craft. Though a contemporary work of art, this metal-cast is endowed with superb sculptural quality and is a masterpiece by any parameters. Obviously, the caster of the artefact has used the technique and spirit of the finest models of all ages and excellence of all traditions of art and thought and created it by adding to it his own creative fervour. Thus, the art-piece endowed with a capability of revealing divine serenity and transcending the mind to a world absolutely unlike ours is a product of both, his hands as well as ages of Indian traditions of art and thought.

The fine grains or the grainless finish arrived at by the casting technique imparts to the artefact exceptional lustre and creates a unique magic of light and shade which their own interaction further enhances. The face with almond-shaped, though slightly more carved, half shut eyes with elegantly arched eye-brows and a well defined straight sharp nose, and the typically dressed wavy hair floating upwards reveal on one hand strange divine aura and on the other, unique aesthetic beauty, the characteristic attributes of the early Buddhist art. The head displays great anatomical balance and a unique synthesis of the exterior and the interior, and thus more than the anatomy of a human head the metal-cast’s central theme seems to be the serenity that it enshrines.

Summarily, the face reflects sublimity and is endowed also with great aesthetic beauty. Cast straight the head displays perfect symmetry though the areas of light and shade often dramatise it and create various effects, as those of thick and thin lines, squares and rectangles, and recesses and projections. The well socketed eyes are highly meditative and imparts to the artefact its essential bearing. The tuft of hair created in the middle of the symmetrically rising wavy hair, meant for suggesting 'Ushnisha', also balances with its verticality the horizontality of the artefact, which could otherwise look akward.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

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