Temples of Gold: Seven Centuries of Thai Buddhist Paintings by Santi Leksukhum
Photographs by Gilles Mermet
folio. pp. 263. profusely illustrated. glossary. bibliography. hardcover. dw. cardboard slipcase. New York: George Braziller, [2000].
New.
ISBN-10: 0807614769 / ISBN-13: 9780807614761
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The exuberant paintings found in the temples of Thailand enchant the eye and spirit with their vivid depictions of mythological and everyday scenes taken from ancient Buddhist texts. These little-known treasures, reproduced here in exquisite color, are masterpieces of visual storytelling that speak to us from across the centuries with joy, humor, and grace. Sankti Leksukhum's text traces the complex history of these paintings, focusing on the fourteenth through the nineteenth centuries. He presents the essential Buddhist texts underlying the images, deepening our appreciation of these magnificent works of art, and examines the development of their distinctive style, from the arrival of Buddhism, to the overwhelming influence of the royal workshops of Bangkok, to the incorporation of Western techniques as Siam was opened to the West in the mid-nineteenth century.