Artwork Search
Arts in Southeast Asia Database
PaintingThe Moral Painting in Viharn Lai Kham
The mural painting at the Viharn Lai Kham has many parts, on the wall at the end of the viharn is a line of Buddhas in the past, the north wall is a picture of Suwan Hong, the south wall is a picture of Golden Conch, above the picture of Suwan Hong and Golden Conch is a Thep Chumnum. The image appears to be 3D and more realistic which is influenced by Rattanakosin art that influenced by Western and Burmese art such as the Payathat architecture form or various royal dressing and “Kak” picture that depicting the life of the people in greater amounts than murals in the central region.
PaintingPhra Bot of Wat Dok Ngeun
This Phra Bot tells the story of Lord Buddha descending from the Dao Deung (Tavatimsa) Heaven to Sangkasa city. There were many colors used; green, blue, red, white, yellow and black. It was gilded only at the Lord Buddha. It was divided into four parts, the top part is the Dao Deung Heaven showing pictures of Devas (angels) paying respect with Parichart Trees, Chulamanee chedi and two vimans. The second floor is the picture of a large Buddha, descending from the crystal stairways with both the sun and the moon flanking. The third floor displays the surrounding atmosphere in Sangkasa. At the bottom one is a picture of water, the Nagas and Human beings with the background of Montharop flowers with inscriptions in various positions
PaintingThe mural painting in Vihara Nam Tam
The style of painting in Nam Tam Vihara featured red, green, yellow, black and white, with the prominent people figures dressed in Burmese style, while the common villagers dressed in the folk Lanna and Burmese styles. The landscape paintings used the curve line to divide the picture. There are Lanna alphabet inscriptions on the story of Indra and Samavadee. There is a painting of Triphum story which is displayed as a pole in the middle of Indra's Prasat in heaven with the sun and the moon revolving around it.
PaintingMural Painting Wat Thung Sri Meung
Mural paintings at this Phra Putthabhat hall were painted on the walls, the walls behind the doors and the columns. The paintings were painted in various stories including Vessanatara Jataka, Phra Malai and Buddha’s life. The walls behind the doors were painted with Pajittakumara Jataka, Julapata Jataka and Sin Chai. The columns were painted with Sin Chai stories, lotus bud and intertwined spray patterns. The painting techniques might have been influenced by the royal school of art in Bangkok. The techniques include patterns of the main characters, the palaces, and color status. However, there were also pictures of local folk life in the paintings.
PaintingThe twelve-month royal ceremonies mural painting
The mural painting depicting ‘Twelve-Month Royal Ceremonies’ was painted on the panel between each window. The remarkable mural painting was influenced by western art in terms of use of horizontal lines, perspectives, small portraits, and realistic landscape. The buildings in the painting imitate real buildings in the Grand Palace as well as the neighbourhood such as Rajaworadit pier, and some pavilions or throne halls which were already destroyed or ruined or disappeared. The mural painting also displays a group of soldiers wearing uniform adopted from western style, along with Thai and foreigner people dressing in fashionable clothes.
PaintingMural Paintings Depicting Ramayana
The mural paintings show a combination of traditional and modern painting techniques as follows: the traditional painting techniques are demonstrated through the main characters’ dresses are similar to those in the Masked dance drama, they are showing the same dance movements, and the characters’ adornments are gilded. The modern painting techniques include the use of horizon lines and perspective, imitation of real buildings such as palaces in the Grand Palace, and depiction of real landscapes. In addition, the paintings also show ways of life of people in the Thai Royal Court and ordinary Thai people and humor through the supporting characters. There are 178 painting panels in total; and each painting comes with verse of Ramayana poetry on the lower part of the panels, 224 verses in total.
PaintingPha Taem Prehistoric Color Painting
It can be divided into 4 groups according to the name and the position of the cliff, they are Pha Kham, Pha Taem, Pha Mon Noi, and Pha Mon. They are all facing the east.1. Pha KhamIt shows a painting of 4 large fishes approximately 0.35 - 1.00 meters long written in a red x-ray style to see the internal structure. In addition, there is a painting of an elephant which is much smaller than a fish (about 13 cm) and a painting of a quadruped.2. Pha TaemThere are paintings all along the cliff. They are 180 meters long and about 4 - 5 meters above the ground. There are more than 300 color paintings at Pha Taem. There are paintings created by the rain gouging into the rock creating some lines patterns; some are straight, some are arranged along a straight line, some oblique, some horizontal. They are from 5 - 15 centimeters in height. The remaining section is only about 80 centimeters long and they are possibly some iconic images. Most of the color paintings in this area are written in red, only some are in black and white divided into small sizes of human paintings and only 10 of them were found.Paintings of animals such as elephants, fish, turtles or snapping turtle, dog, cow, chicken or bird etc. are often painted as large as the real thing, especially elephant and fish whose size is up to 4 meters long and about 3 meters high. There are about 30 animal paintings found and both human and animal paintings are often in motion.Object paintings. This could be a fishing tool called a "Toom" and a crossbow or bow that a person is holding.Geometrical motifs. The motifs are in twisted, wavy or zigzag lines that can refer to “water” or a fish trap. They are also in herringbone, geometric, parallel lines that looks like ricefields, etc.Human hands. There are more than 200 hands, both of children and adults. The colors are red, black, and white. All types of paintings are always drawn together, especially the hands that appear in every painting.Most of the paintings are silhouette. Others are outlines and stick men. The human hand paintings are stencils, imprints, and outlines.3. Pha Mon NoiThis section shows a painting of a person about 1.6 meters tall holding a bow aimed at a four-legged animal, possibly a pregnant cow with the body size of 6.4 meters long. Next to that is a painting of a person about 1.2 meters tall chasing a horned four-legged animal which might be a deer that invaded the ricefields. surrounding this group of paintings are paintings of about 20 hands, both left hands and right hands created by putting the paint on the palm then scraping off some of the paint on the fingers and palms and then imprinting the hand on the wall. Next is a painting of three four-legged animals with bloated bellies and it looks like they are pregnant as well. There is a drawing that is similar to the net of an animal trap and also paintings of connected parallel lines. There are, in addition, 15 human hands paintings arranged in long wavy lines. They are similar to the ones of the first group. Paintings of people and animals were painted in red silhouette. It is noteworthy that all types of paintings at Pha Taem and Pha Mon Noi are related. Whether it is a picture of a person and a cow with hands, fish and hands, ‘Toom’ with hands, geometrical motifs of ricefields, people, and deer with hands, or a painting of a person hunting a cow or a deer.4. Pha MonIn this section, there are paintings of people and animals written in red silhouette.In this first group, there is only a painting of a single person and 11 four-legged animals, possibly elephants, cows, dogs and pigs, or sheep or goats, walking in the same direction. (Except for one animal, possibly a dog that is facing the herd)In the second group, there are paintings of about 10 people drawn in silhouette and stickmen. They all look quite realistic, even their calves are aneurysms. An interesting painting of the Pha Mon is the painting of a person wearing a half-calf length skirt standing with arms akimbo, not sure whether it is a woman or a man. This painting is larger than other paintings. Moreover, they are paintings of the right hands of adults, 2 paintings in stencil, 2 imprinted paintings, and 2 imprinted paintings of children hands. It can be noticed that there are always paintings of hands appearing in all 4 groups of paintings. This could refer to a cooperation in doing an activity such as fishing. cultivating, raising animals, or hunting. This shows that the illustrators might be in agricultural society and they may share common belief in fertility.
PaintingTumpalai Phu Pha Yon
The various engraved drawings can be classified as follows:1. Human figures. There are 21 engraved drawings of people, including both realistic and semi-realistic portraits. There are 9 realistic drawings, 2 of children and 7 of adults, that show the similarity between the real person and the drawing, for instance, the drawing of a person with an emphasis on only the outlines; the description of organs such as ears, eyes, mouth, nose, fingers, toes are not shown. The semi-realistic drawing is the drawing that characterizes the person in proportion but will be inaccurate from reality, for instance, the human head is in a square shape or the muscles of the limbs are not focused. However, other important parts such as ears, eyes, mouth, nose, fingers and toes aren’t completely shown. There are 12 drawings of this type. 2. Human hands. There is only one drawing of a right hand with the palm open. There are six fingers on the hand.3.Animals figures There are 21 drawings, 8 of fish, 4 of birds, 2 of dogs, 1 of a squirrel or a chipmunk, 1 of a buffalo, 4 of buffaloes or cows, 1 of a frog or a small green frog. 4. Geometrical motifs There are a lot of drawings with straight lines, curve lines or lines with different patterns, square, triangle, cross, arrowhead, rhombic triangle, single line, arranged lines, and crossed lines and sometimes the shape cannot be identified. 5.Appliance For example, a picture that resembles a plow, farming tools that show only the head area called “Moldboard plow” or “Phal” at the rear. There are also drawings of a shovel with a handle and a fan for blowing away the withered grain. 6.Building There are 2 drawings that look like a house. It is a house with a gable roof. One drawing is of a house with a dog inside and another drawing is of a house with a crossed roof similar to the roof of Kalae house or the roof of a hut in a farm in northeast of Thailand and it looks like there is a person inside the house.
