Frieze of musicians,

3rd century CE

In the late fourth century BCE, Alexander the Great conquered an area of northwestern Pakistan known historically as Gandhara. His hold on the area was short lived, but the Hellenistic visual culture he introduced to the region continued to influence Gandharan art throughout the reigns of the Indo-Greek kings who ruled the area in the second and first centuries BCE. With the rise of Buddhism in the first centuries of the Common Era, Gandharan elites, whose riches were tied to the important trade routes that crossed through their territory, became avid sponsors of Buddhist temples and sacred sites adorned with sculptures and relief carvings. The region’s Greco-Roman sculptural traditions, which were also influenced by the art of ancient Iran and India, led to a new form of Buddhist art. The Hellenistic trans- formation of Buddhist art is represented in these three sculptures by the flowing drapery of the figures’ robes, the positioning of the bodies, and the scrolling leaf ornament.