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HaḍḍaDB
PathsTraces of colour

Path 10 of 17 · 20 works

Traces of colour

The stuccoes of Haḍḍa were not white: brows drawn with a brush, hair outlined in red, painted pupils, ūrṇā and lips. This tour gathers twenty works whose descriptions record remains of polychromy, from simple red outlines to a head whose colours are particularly well preserved, and ends with a fragment from a chapel where an unfinished wall painting was uncovered.

Locate these works on the excavation plan(5/20)
  1. Head of Buddha

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    Head of Buddha

    Tapa Kalān · Stucco

    A line of red paint outlined the hair and heightened the brows and the ūrṇā.

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  2. Head of Buddha

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    Head of Buddha

    Tapa Kalān · Stucco

    The hair is outlined in red; brows and eyelid contours are underlined in the same way.

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  3. Head of Buddha

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    Head of Buddha

    Tapa Kalān · Stucco

    Painted brows draw a very wide flat arch on this Buddha of Central Asian inspiration.

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  4. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Tapa-i Kafarihā · Stucco

    Slight traces of polychromy remain; the brows were painted.

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  5. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Tapa-i Kafarihā · Stucco

    The traces are numerous: painted brows, ūrṇā and pupils.

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  6. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Tapa-i Kafarihā · Stucco

    The ūrṇā is rendered as a red painted circle just above the brows.

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  7. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Tapa Kalān · Stucco

    A painted circle marks the ūrṇā, beneath a diadem adorned with circular medallions.

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  8. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Haḍḍa, lost location · Stucco

    Just above the brows, a painted circle marks the ūrṇā.

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  9. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Haḍḍa, lost location · Stucco

    The ūrṇā is a circle of red paint; the left nostril is underlined by an incision.

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  10. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Bāgh Gaï · Stucco

    Red paint sets the forehead off from the hair and underlines the mouth and the neck.

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  11. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Tapa-i Kafarihā · Stucco

    Traces outline the hair and underline the mouth, the eye, the neck and various parts of the face.

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  12. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Bāgh Gaï · Stucco

    The polychromy is particularly well preserved on this work of Central Asian inspiration.

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  13. Head of god Indra

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    Head of god Indra

    Tapa Kalān · Stucco

    Barthoux recorded traces of red polychromy on this head of Indra.

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  14. Head of a female donor, or deity

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    Head of a female donor, or deity

    Bāgh Gaï · Stucco

    Red and black outlines underline the hair and diadem, as well as the eyes and brows.

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  15. Bust of Pançika

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    Bust of Pançika

    Bāgh Gaï · Stucco

    Pañcika's lips were painted red, the brows and moustache drawn in black.

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  16. Head of Genius or Bodhisattva

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    Head of Genius or Bodhisattva

    Tapa-i Kafarihā · Stucco

    The mouth appears underlined by a painted line.

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  17. Yakṣi at the tree

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    Yakṣi at the tree

    Tapa-i Kafarihā · Stone

    Traces of red paint remain, notably on the turban of this stone yakṣi.

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  18. Head of god Brahma, a young brahman or a Bodhisattva

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    Head of god Brahma, a young brahman or a Bodhisattva

    Tapa Kalān · Stucco

    Traces of polychromy can be made out on the pupils.

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  19. Head of Bodhisattva

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    Head of Bodhisattva

    Haḍḍa, lost location · Clay

    The pupils of this clay head still seem to bear traces of polychromy.

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  20. Male nude

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    Male nude

    Bāgh Gaï · Stucco

    This nude comes from a chapel at Bāgh Gaï where an unfinished wall painting of the Conversion of Aṅgulimāla was uncovered.

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