Kanishka: greatest of the Kushan monarchs, 2nd Century A.D.

Among the most remarkable finds at Mathura are a number of royal effigies which are outstanding in their directness and formal attitude as well as impressive in their technical skill, Here we see the greatest ruler of the Kushans, King Kanishka, clad in a tunic reaching to mid-calf over which drapes a handsomely but simply cut robe, The king wears trouser-like garments tucked into leather boots and holds a huge, elaborately decorated scabbard: much in contrast to the plain material of her [sic] garments, The characteristic features of this figure are rigid symmetry and formal frontality indicating that whoever the sculptor was, he did not draw influence from the Greeks' idealism, It has been observed by some scholars that the pose is realistic without attempting to be idealizational, but we might add to this remark 'without being naturalistic' as well since there is no evidence that the maker of the figure wished to portray his creation in naturally three-dimensional plains [sic] as in-the-round statuary truly demands, We sense a lingering relief treatment in this image: this particularly emphasized in the marked frontality of the pose, -- Mathura, Curzon Museum