18 Facts About Gupta art

Gupta art is the art of the Gupta Empire, which ruled most of northern India, with its peak between about 300 and 480 CE, surviving in much reduced form until c 550.

The Gupta period is generally regarded as a classic peak and golden age of North Indian art for all the major religious groups.

Gupta art is characterized by its "Classical decorum", in contrast to the subsequent Indian medieval art, which "subordinated the figure to the larger religious purpose".

Gupta art India produced both textiles and jewellery, which are only known from representations in sculpture and especially the paintings at Ajanta.

Gupta art was preceded by Kushan art, the art of the Kushan Empire in northern India, which flourished between the 1st and the 4th century CE and blended the tradition of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, influenced by Hellenistic artistic canons, and the more Indian art of Mathura.

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These Gupta statues are dated from the Gupta era, and sometimes mention the reigning ruler of that time.

The Gupta art coinage was initially in imitation of the Kushan types.

The art of the Gupta is often considered as the pinnacle of Indian Buddhist art, achieving a beautiful rendering of the Buddhist ideal.

Gupta art is characterized by an expansion of the Buddhist pantheon, with a high importance given to the Buddha himself and to new deities, including Bodhisattvas such as Avalokitesvara or divinities of Bramanical inspiration, and less focus on the events of the life of the Buddha which were abundantly illustrated through Jataka stories in the art of Bharhut and Sanchi, or in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara (1st–4th centuries CE).

One cave has an extremely rare inscription relating a site to the Gupta art court, recording the donation of a minister of Candragupta II.

Gupta art period saw the production of many sculptures in terracotta of very fine quality, and they are similar in style across the empire, to an even greater extent than the stone sculpture.

The Gupta art Empire produced large numbers of gold coins depicting the Gupta art kings performing various rituals, as well as silver coins clearly influenced by those of the earlier Western Satraps by Chandragupta II.

The coinage of the Gupta art Empire was initially derived from the coinage of the Kushan Empire, adopting its weight standard, techniques and designs, following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest.

The imagery on Gupta art coins was initially derived from Kushan types, but the features soon became more Indian in both style and subject matter compared to earlier dynasties, where Greco-Roman and Persian styles were mostly followed.

Some gold coins commemorate the Vedic Ashvamedha horse sacrifice ritual, which the Gupta art kings practised; these have the sacrificial horse on the obverse and the queen on the reverse.

Reasons that are not entirely clear, for the most part the Gupta period represented a hiatus in Indian rock-cut architecture, with the first wave of construction finishing before the empire was assembled, and the second wave beginning in the late 5th century, just as it was ending.

Whereas the Pillars of Ashoka were cylindrical, smooth and finished with the famous Mauryan polish, Gupta art pillars had a rough surface often shaped into geometrical facets.

Chronology of Gupta art is quite critical to the art history of the region.