These two bodhisattvas—male beings dedicated to the “awakening” or “enlightenment” which necessarily precedes the state of Buddhahood—were probably part of a triptych in which the central place would be occupied by the image of the Great Bodhisattva par excellence, Sakyamuni. The absence of emblems or attributes, optional in Buddhist iconography, does not allow a sure identification of these two images, although the pair is probably intended to depict Manjushri (“Gentle Glory”, see p. 64) and Maitreya (“Loving One”, the Buddha-to-come), regularly shown clad in princely attire and ornaments flanking the historical Buddha; this hypothesis seems to be confirmed by the almost feminine lineaments of Manjushri, imagined as a beautiful youth and represented here in an elaborate style reminiscent of Newar art of the Nepal Valley during the late period of the Malla dynasties (1472-1769).
The sensuousness of forms in these two images partly derives from a real movement—the hipshot stance that characterises so many attendant figures in Indian statuary—and partly from a false dynamism imparted both by the movement of the sashes diagonally crossing the robes and by the very long scarves falling from the shoulders along the body sides and curling up in volutes at the bottom of the figures; these volutes recall the Chinese manner of depicting clouds commonly adopted by Tibetan artists. The motif of the scarf—like that of the pleats of drapery falling between the legs—really derives from Hellenistic art, enriched by Iranian elements and then transmitted both to the regions of Central Asia along the various branches of the Silk Route and to the Indian subcontinent, where it gave origin to a great artistic season in the kingdom of Gandhara (cf. Hallade, “The Ornamental Veil or Scarf”).
(Erberto Lo Bue)