Title: The conservation of mural paintings in Thailand
Abstract: 2 THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THAI MURALS In Thailand, paintings depicting the life of Buddha, the Buddhist pantheon, Buddhist cosmology, etc., traditionally decorate the walls of religious buildings and palaces. The majority of the murals are painted in the ubosot and viharn, places of Buddhist congregation and worship. Apart from being dedicated to the worship of the Lord Buddha, these paintings also serve to influence the peace of mind of worshippers, and their awareness of right and wrong according to Buddhist beliefs. The oldest Thai wall paintings date from the end of the thirteenth century and retain the character of earlier Sukhotai sculptures, with Indian and Khmer influences. By the middle of the fourteenth century Thai painting had progressed to a distinct national style. In the Ayudhya period (1350-1767)the art of mural painting is greatly influenced by book illuminations. The colours used in these murals are either black and white, or black and white with yellow and red earths. Although there are four different pigments, the effect is still not very colourful. In the late Ayudhya period (after c. 1630), Thai painting became a more polychromatic art form with the addition to the palette of new pigments such as a vermilion background, a light yellow colour for the figures, and the introduction of gilded elements. The Ayuthaya style of wall painting evolves in the Bangkok period (1782-present) into a very important school of painting which is considered today the 'classic' period of Thai painting. After the third quarter of the nineteenth century, traditional Thai painting starts to decline. The fine examples of the past were copied without understanding the subtleties of their beauty. Moreover, with the growth of western influence on Thailand, Thai traditional painting loses its individuality and becomes a hybrid mixture of western and eastern characteristics.
Publication Year: 1986
Publication Date: 1986-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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