Buddha
Buddhist art originated on the Indian subcontinent following the historical life of Buddha Gautama, and thereafter evolved by contact with other cultures as it spread throughout Asia and the world.
In India, Buddhist art flourished and even influenced the development of Hindu art, until Buddhism nearly disappeared in India around the 10th century due in part to the vigorous expansion of Islam alongside Hinduism.
It is interesting to note that the Buddha is an extensively used subject in plastic arts such as sculpture, paintings and literature, but not in music and dance. Buddhist art continued to develop in India for a few more centuries. The art of the Gupta school was extremely influential almost everywhere in the rest of Asia. By the 10th century, Buddhist art creation was dying out in India, as Hinduism and Islam ultimately prevailed. At the end of the 12th century A.D. Buddhism in its full glory came to be preserved only in the Himalayan regions in India.