Buddhism and Icons: Prohibition to "Idolatry"

The the Buddha's image plays a complex role in Buddhist history. We will look at how Buddhism seems to have changed from a largely aniconic tradition into one that was considered by its religious rivals as the epitome of "idolatry".

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✅ Videos recommended:
Intro to Buddhist Art:    • Intro to Buddhist Art  
Why Won't the Buddha Answer You?    • Why Won't the Buddha Answer You? (The...  

✅ Books:
Robert DeCaroli, Image Problems https://amzn.to/2EbCaiA
Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism 2nd Ed. https://amzn.to/37DH42m
Donald Lopez, From Stone to Flesh https://amzn.to/31YbkTk (Lopez is an extreme skeptic about early Buddhism so keep that in mind. His scholarship on later Buddhism is very good).
Johan Elverskog, Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road (U.Penn, 2010). https://amzn.to/3fy0GYx

✅ Paper:
Ju-Hyung Rhi, “From Bodhisattva to Buddha: The Beginning of Iconic Representation in Buddhist Art”. Artibus Asiae, Vol. 54 No. 3/4 (1994).

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