Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher (1865–1952), was a French scholar, who argued that the
Buddha image has
Greek origins. He has been called the "father of
Gandhara studies", and is a much-cited scholar on ancient Buddhism in northwest
Indian subcontinent and the
Hindu Kush region.[1]
Foucher's most famous work was L'Art Gréco-Bouddhique du Gandhara in which he described how
Buddhistart prior to
Pan-Hellenism was principally
aniconic, representing the Buddha by depicting elements of the Buddha's life instead of depicting the Buddha himself. Foucher argued that the first sculpted images of the Buddha were heavily influenced by Greek artists. He coined the term "
Greco-Buddhist art".
Foucher especially considered Hellenistic free-standing Buddhas as "the most beautiful, and probably the most ancient of the Buddhas", assigning them to the 1st century BCE, and making them the starting point of the anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha ("The Buddhist art of Gandhara", Marshall, p101).
Following the mid-20th century discovery of Roman trading posts in Southern India, Foucher's argument was revised in favour of
Roman influence, as opposed to Greek.
New archeological discoveries in
Central Asia however (such as the
Hellenistic city of
Ai-Khanoum and the excavation of
Sirkap in modern
Pakistan), have been pointing to rich
Greco-Bactrian and
Indo-Greek civilizations in these areas, reviving the Hellenistic thesis. Nonetheless, his central
thesis that the Buddha was of
Classical origin has become established. For a compelling counter-argument to Foucher's essay, see
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, "The Origin of the Buddha Image".
Works
« Ksemendra. Le Buddhâvatâra », JA 20/8e série, p. 167-175; 1892
Étude sur l'iconographie bouddhique de l'Inde d'après les documents nouveaux, Paris, 1900,
Étude sur l'iconographie bouddhique de l'Inde d'après des textes inédits, Paris, E. Leroux, 1905.
« Notes d'archéologie bouddhique : I, Le stupa de Boro-Budur ; II, Les bas-reliefs de Boro-Budur ; III, Iconographie bouddhique à Java », BEFEO 9, p. 1-50; 1909
« Notes sur l'itinéraire de Hiuan-tsang en Afghanistan », dans Études asiatiques publiées à l'occasion du 25e anniversaire de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris, G. van Oest (PEFEO, 19), p. 257-284; 1926
The monuments of Sâñchî, (avec John Marshall), 3 vol., [Delhi, Government Press]; 1939
"The Buddhist art of Gandhara", Sir John Marshall, Cambridge University Press, 1960
ISBN81-215-0967-X
P.-S. Filliozat, J. Leclant (ed.), Bouddhismes d'Asie. Monuments et littératures. Journée d'étude en hommage à Alfred Foucher (1865–1952) réunie le 14 décembre 2007 à l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (palais de l'Institut de France), Paris, 2009, 314 p. (with new bibliography of Foucher' works).
A. Fenet, Documents d’archéologie militante. La mission Foucher en Afghanistan (1922–1925), Paris, 2010, 695 p. (Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 42),
ISBN9782877542401.
A. Fenet, « Les archives Alfred Foucher (1865-1952) de la Société asiatique (Paris) », Anabases VII, 2008, p. 163-192.
External links
Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher at Wikipedia's
sister projects