Gandharan, Gandhara

Born in the Himalayan foothils as the prince Siddhartha Gautama in the mid-6th century B.C.E., the Buddha (Enlightened One) renounced his wordly riches in favor of meditation and teaching. His ethical teachings would later have a profound influence in almost all corners of Asia. At first he was only represented by abstract symbols but later he was also shown in human form. This head detached from a larger figure exhibits the classical traits so typical of works from Gandhara, an area to the northwest of India which had been conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 B.C.E.