Indo-Corinthian capital

Indo-Corinthian capitals

The Ahin Posh stupa was decorated with Indo-Corinthian capitals. 2nd century CE.^[1]

Left image: Classical Greek Corinthian anta capital.
Right image: An Indo-Corinthian capital with a palmette and the Buddha at its centre, 3-4th century, Gandhara.

Indo-Corinthian capitals are

Indian elements. These capitals are typically dated to the first centuries of the Common Era, and constitute an important aspect of Greco-Buddhist art

.

Corinthian design

Indo-Corinthian capitals display a design and foliage structure which is derived from the academic

Greco-Bactrian kingdom, centered on Bactria (today's northern Afghanistan), upheld the type at the doorstep of India, in such places as Ai-Khanoum until the end of the 2nd century BCE. In India, the design was often adapted, usually taking a more elongated form and sometimes being combined with scrolls, generally within the context of Buddhist stupas

and temples.

Figurines

Indo-Corinthian capitals also incorporated figures of the

Mediterranean

, figurines were often represented this way:

Figural additions are very common in the classical world, and from an early period, usually take the form of heads or busts, but the Gandhara treatment is original in that the acanthus leaves form a canopy over it.^[2]

Combinations with Buddhist architecture

Indo-Corinthian capital were also used in combination with architectural elements, such as Buddhist stupas. One of the best example was excavated and reconstituted at Sirkap.

Perhaps the most notable divergence from the western concept of function occurs at Kalawan,
Taxila, where a large acanthus capital set on a lotus base was inserted between the conventional square basement and cylindrical dome of a votive stupa.^[2]

Further, in the art of Gandhara, Indo-Corinthian capitals on top of separating pilasters are used extensively in narrative friezes of the life of the Buddha. This usage continued as late as the 5th century.

Gallery

Base of pillar, Indo-Corinthian capitals and elephants from base of stupa, Jamal Garhi
An Indo-Corinthian capital from the
Turin City Museum of Ancient Art
).
Indo-Corinthian capital representing a Buddhist devotee wearing a Graeco-Roman coat with
fibula. Butkara Stupa, National Museum of Oriental Art, Rome
.

A pilaster decorated by a Corinthian capital and a female figurine, Athens, 2nd-1st century BCE.
The Buddha, within the foliage of a Corinthian capital.
Series of Indo-Corinthian capitals from Jamal-Garhi.
A Buddhist triad flanked by two pilasters with Indo-Corinthian capitals, Gandhara, 3rd century CE.
Indo-Corinthian canopy at the
Chakhil-i-Ghoundi stupa, Hadda
.

Small Gandhara architectural pillar
Capital with central quadriga. Butkara Stupa.
Indo-Corinthian capital featuring the charriot-driving sun god Surya. Gandhara, 2nd century CE.