This book deals with crucial though controversial questions in Buddhist art: the origin of the Buddha image - its transformations from aniconism to anthropomorphism - and the iconography of the Buddha images.<br>The earliest Buddhist art of Sanchi and Bharhut is aniconic; the Buddha is represented in symbols only. In the later Buddhist art of Gandhara and Mathura, the Buddha is represented in human form; he is the principle subject of sculptural art. The book seeks to explore the geographical area in which the image of Buddha first emerged and whether ideology of the Buddhist doctrines - Hinayana or Mahayana - had anything to do with this transformation and whether anthropomorphism of the Buddha image is of Greek inspiration. The Buddha image, as developed eventually at Sarnath, became the model for the Buddha images in the whole of Asia - Southeast, Central, and Eastern. The book is profusely illustrated and provides rich and stimulating fare to students of Indian art in general and of Buddhist art in particular.