A CARAVAN
Art of Gandhara
3rd century
Schist,  CM. 15 BY 44

Close your eyes and imagine Marco Polo along the Silk Road, but even before that, imagine the caravans that connected Greece to India and India to China spreading ideas, religions, philosophies, and trade. Then open your eyes and look at this second-century Gandharan relief: here is how a Greek or local artisan-artist depicted this meeting of cultures: horses and oxen pulling the cart full of wares and then the caravan leader overseeing the work and, in front of him, a camel to brave the Central Asian desert and attendants unloading the wares to store them in a warehouse… This is an unusual theme for Gandharan art and the scene–illustrated with pleasing and accurate realism–gives us a snapshot of life in those times that in some regions of Asia has remained virtually unchanged to this day.
The frieze was presented at the exhibition “The Art of Gandhara” and published in the catalogue on page 24-25.