The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

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SIAM 425
more often than not too large for the bodies, so
that there cannot have been any strict observance
of the Indian canonical systems of proportion.
In the example illustrated there is a
definite suggestion of a Siamese ethnic type in
the broad face with a relatively flat nose and
enormously full lips. Another characteristic
of the Buddhas of the Dvaravati Period is the
which the form appears to emerge, as though not
entirely disengaged, from the plain background
ofrock is immediately reminiscent ofthe masterpieces
of Pallava carving at Mamallapuram.
The rather pointed face with high cheekbones
is again more closely related to Indian originals
than the contemporary Buddha images of this
period.
size and prominence of the individual snailshell
curls that cover the head like a cap. The
actual carving of the body, which is entirely
revealed through the simplified sheath-like
robe, is derived from the style of the Buddha
images of the Gupta Period at Sarnath and
Ajanta. The extremely beautiful head reproduced
in our illustration 356 is typical of this
Indianized phase of Siamese Buddhist art.
has certain characteristics in common with the
image in Seattle, specifically the very patternized
flower-like shapes of the eyes and lips that
may be regarded as a Siamese interpretation of
the Indian metaphorical method of representing
the Buddha's features. Although the arched
It
357. Vishnu from Siam.
Bangkok, National Museum
brows and lotiform eyes are here entirely integrated
with the thoroughly sculptural conception
of the head, this tendency to patternize the
features - treating them as parts of a decorative
applique to an inorganic mask - was to end,
many centuries later, in the disintegration of
Siamese sculpture into an empty ornamental
formula.
As in
Cambodia of the Pre-Khmer Period,
Indian missionary activity included the introduction
of Hindu as well as Buddhist ritual art;
a number of Brahmanic images of the sixth
century are extremely interesting, and quite
different from contemporary work in Cambodia.
A typical example is the standing image of Vishnu
in the National Museum at Bangkok [357].
Certain technical factors relate this statue to the
Pallava style of the sixth and seventh centuries.
Not only the conception of the figure in terms of
mass and simplified planes, but the manner in