Mathura Art

The Mathura school (roughly contemporary with Gandhara, 1st-5th century CE, in northern India) developed its own early tradition of Buddha images independently, in a style rooted in earlier Indian yaksha (nature-spirit) sculpture: a more robust, fleshy figure, a thin clinging robe leaving the right shoulder bare, and a broad, direct facial expression - visibly different from Gandhara's Greco-Roman-influenced style.

Mathura and Gandhara are almost always taught and examined as a contrasting pair, so the single most useful thing to prepare is a direct side-by-side: indigenous and robust (Mathura) versus foreign-influenced and classical (Gandhara).