North-west India (now Pakistan and part of Afghanistan)Kushan period, 1st-3rd A.D.Schist Fragment of a frieze depicting four men and a central tree.The tree, moving in the wind, is the only reference to it being an outside scene and it serves as a backdrop and frame for the four characters that are grouped in pairs on either side.It is extremely difficult to reconstruct the history of the original position of this fragment, but generic ideas about the art of Gandhara are a great help.During the Kushan period, Buddhist art flourished through the use of friezes, depicting stories of the previous lives of Buddha (Jataka) and they were usually placed along the outer walls of the stupas.The narrative characteristic of these friezes imposed stylistic solutions that divided places, events and people and the art of Gandhara made extensive use of architectural elements to act as a backdrop, to frame and separate the narrative cycles.In this frieze, a function similar to the one just described could be attributed to the tree, which could mean that it is a fragment of an exterior narrative scene, probably originally part of a cycle of religious stories.Drapery, faces and bodies with Hellenistic influences are typical of Gandhara art. lxh 43,5 x 19,5 cm