2018 ~ KHMER ART

Sunday, December 16, 2018

D ecoralivc linlcl Late 11th century

D ecoralivc linlc

Late 11th century

Sandstone — 1.38 x 0.69 m.

From Prasat Pen Chun -

Kompong Svay

(Kompong Thom).

Inventory no. C 30.19.

This lintel is scanned by two crests to pieces, and broke his

large arches of foliage ending limbs". At this point "Kéllya-

in two curves upon the arch gushing blood from all his

of which rests an atlantes lion jaws, remembered the teacher

with a ﬂoret in its mouth. In of the worlds [...| greeted him

the centre is depicted the with joy" and "went to the

story of Krishna fighting island of Ramanaka [...I At the

against the néga Kaliya, who same moment, the waters of

was disrupting the balance of the lake ceased to be

a lake in Kalindi. The waters, poisonous and took on the

poisoned by the snake's sweetness of ambrosia.

venom, were killing the birds. Krishna is assisted here by two

Krishna plunged into the garuda without arms,

waters and "the snake bit him according to the fashion of the

with rage at the sources of life eleventh century.

and covered him with his The careful workmanship of

Easel-{3:128:21 begap t0 the baphuon style and the

magenta: 2.1; h

.. . . intel contrasts somewhat with

dhrough hlS marvellous the naive frieze of birds

ance reduced the snake 5 located above the main scene.

ក្បាច់មួយសន្លឹកថតចម្លង ពីសៀវភៅ BOOK ART KHMER

BOOK ART KBACH KHMER

ihcm Oucen RAicndradevl whose statue in the form at the goddess Cam :5 ex?‘ Med .2: the mu
if scum — belorc leaving Hariharalaya to rside m Anglia, m a new aerial named axe.- h‘m hashes.
H harapura
At the time the royal temple stood in the cemreol'Yashodharapura nuts :25 ﬁre Nndultrg‘x
I elevated on a sandstone pyramid. on the hill oi Phnorn oBakheng This swk‘LceIZ) 3‘1th limr’k‘
echoes Mount Meru. the abode ofthe gods and the ans ofthewodd whose ime 5:27:11 its are more~
sented by the live sanctuaries The sanctuaris house hnga, since for follow-e5 of 5mm exenth m: H
Shiva The presence 0! the gods at the heart 0! the kingdom was supposed to ensure that the km:-

dom remained Indestructible
During the reign of Yashovarman 5 sons. one oi his brothers—m-lau- secedeo‘ and rounded a
a capital some lilty miles away. on the site 0! Koh Ker He had some mater mnurrents burl: at Koh
v Ker. including the Prasat Thorn, the 'Great Temple' in 95-5. a nephew otYashosaman l, Rilendu
varman ll [944—968) reinstated the capital atAngtor The reign of Rarendravannan ll mtnexx‘z‘d ex-
tensive reforms in the administrative organisation of the kingdom At the same time the reerTmble
buildings ol the Temple oi Eastern Mebon dediated to the memory or hrs ancestors and the Rom!
Temple ol Pre Rup were founded. and the pyramid oltheTemple ol Phimanakas in the Royal p3,
lace was erected, The building of the gopura. the pavilions sluated at the entrance of the enclosure
of the Royal Palace. must have been undertaker: Matter-aids indeed the superstructures ct

these gopura echo the decoration on the pinksa'idstone Banteay Ste: temple founded in 007 by a
high Brahman dignitary, cousin to the king Banteay Srei. in its forest setting is one of the most
poetic worls of Khmer arts The museum horses Shiva. the principal idol of this temple tenderly
holding Uma on his knee
Al the beginningolthe eleventh wintryﬁlkmman l iiOlO—IO'SOI became hng atter detea»
ting In battle his rival to the throne, who might have been the Founder oi the la Kéo temple The
Cambodian monarchs never forgot the temple of Phu Wat. the sanctuary of their ancestors at the
time oi Chenla. sﬂryavarman i built glorious monumentsa the foot of the mountain and rounded
the Preah Vihear Temple at theedge oi the Bengt pineal: where he erected the statue ol the dn l:
nity of Phu Wat the 'Benevolent lord“. Healsaaarrpleted the buildngof the Temple of Humans-
has in the Royal Palace atAngkor:
After he died. his eldst son built the trad BaphOon Mantle south of the Royal Palam
Small has-reliefs illustrating episodes from the Rina-yam and the Mahabharata decorate the walls
' of this temple The scens relate thedeedsolkémaand Krishnaandthevarious themationsoﬂx-

" shnu. Here and there. the anotions of thesoulptoremera. such as in the scene tn which Rama do
Iicately touchs the shoulderofthe crying monkey Hagtogue bin m Atom-id me sum time m
a temple in the centre ofthearﬁﬁdal lal'etotheieadhnﬂu, an“! m statue ontshnu
reclining. majestic and serene. aslhoughwakingrna “SIM“ erected The bus! of the
: god.whlchhasremainedlnlaa.isoneolthewvelsdtltem
r. In “B. alter the binhota rte-dynasty. Hum nuns-15mm power by
defeating two kings SOryavar-man II is EmshhllﬁcdteWedir-igiuwa dedicated to
: \nshnu. his favourite deity. which is probahtythe most harm creation of mm“ architecture
Bas-rellels of bards. mythlal legends. souls dhea‘ensand hells tunes oi the king himself at
court and setting outon militaryexpetﬁﬁonsnhrmlusam mmh- unbl-
dedbeforetheeysofVishnu'sdevotees Flo-evenduirgmauuwtedatnckonwhat isnovviet
nam. Sﬂryavannanwasabandonedbytheaiamsudmnedmdlem Msparhedoﬂpmtnc.
tedwars bemen the Khmers andthedtans Thedateolainmsm is not known. Like
hlspredm hemmanoahmsmmmthemummmm
Mththatofthezodhewishedtobeiﬁntiﬁedvﬂx t
Alterthe deathdSﬂmvarmnﬂlueﬂb-dahodtledpedodmm W\W~
man Iiwas murdered In li65byamrpetandln [IanhlllotheChammdvassao

the Great Lake which was for a short time

the Great Lake which was for a short time a royal residence Uncertainty surrounds these three sta- iues are these representations of princes or deities? The Adorned orant. the oldest and best preser- ved of the pieces. was In all probability sculpted in the sixteenth century. possibly during the brief revival of Angkor The praying figure ls kneeling respectfully with his feet to his left and. in the ges- ture of veneration inherited from India. he raises his hands to his young. smooth face A few traces of gliding can be seen on the lacquer covering his cheek Beneath hrs half-closed eyelids. he seems lost in blissful contemplation A simple pectoral decorates his throat The tip of his tiara is broken but on the front of the tiara and on the nape. the artist. like a goldsmlth. has added an intricate and marvellously elegant decoration 0n the front of the dladem a large cruciform ﬂower spreads its la- [era] flame-

shaped petals. whilst on the statues nape curls of leaves and rosettes form an orderly pattern centred around the flower The ﬂame-shaped petals of the ﬂower. a motif which appeared in the sixteenth century. conﬁrm the age of the statue Certainly. the praying figures of Babor have neither the beauty nor the gentle serenity of the statue from Angkor Wat. and their extremities have been gnawed away by damp or insects They. too. are sumptuously adorned with tall dladems and a pectoral decorated with a diamond-shaped pendant which. in the seventeenth century. was found on many Thal carvings Their skirts. covering their lower back. are decorated with delicate ﬂoral motifs The most recent and better preserved of the two. but also the less beautiful. holds up a vase like an offering The other figure. without arms but With a solemn. somewhat melancholy face is very moving. Leaving behind the wooden statues, the last images of the world of the gods one cannot help but meditate brieﬂy before the adorned orant Before entering the world of human beings and visiting the ethnology room. it worth walking through the garden in the Inner courtyard of the museum. which is surrounded by a gallery. llke a cloisier in the centre Is a black wooden dais. protected by the four great kings. guardians of the Orient sculpted on its pediments The dais shelters the famous and mysterious statue of the leper king. once erected In the centre of Angkor Thom on the terrace which still bears his name it is pro» bably a dharmaraia, a king of the Doctrine. a deity that was meant to look ter- rifying as his smile reveals fangs at the corners of his lips However amid the lotus-covered pools in the centre of the sunllt courtyard, this strict king of the Doctrine, with his soft contours. seems harmless enough «a.

STON angkor

Untilthe end of the Anghor period. the material of choice for sculpture was sandstone. though brick, " stucco and terracotta were still used in small quantities. Shale was used for the pedestals and as a ' support for inscriptions. . The statuesare carved straight into the stone. almost always in a single block of stone. The sculptors did not work from a model and so expressed themselves with great spontaneity and sensitivity. but they sometimes made mistakes which meant the whole _ piece had to.be abandoned. ’The statues became smaller and smaller at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth centuries. not because sculptors tried to be more efficient but probably because it was difﬁcult to find large blochs of homogenous stone At the end of the twelfth and beginning of thei thirteenth centuries. since large—scale sculptures were made with poor quality sandstone. sculptors started using special equipment In the period following Angkor. stone sculptures were sometimes decorated with layers of black, red and gold coating. which resembles that found in wooden sculptures

STONE Until the end of the Angkor period

STONE Until the end of the Angkor period. the material of choice for sculpture was sandstone, though brick, stucco and terracotta were still used in small quantities Shale was used for the pedenstals and as a support for inscriptions The statues are carved straight into the stone, almost always in a single block of stone The sculptors did not work from a model and so expressed themselves with great spontaneity and sensitivity, but they sometimes made mistakes which meant the whole piece had to be abandoned The statues became smaller and smaller at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth centuries, not because sculptors tried to be more efficient but probably because it was difficult to find large blocks of homogenous stone At the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth centuries, since large-scale sculptures were made with poor quality sandstone, sculptors started using special equipment In the period following Angkor, stone sculptures were sometimes decorated with layers of black, red and gold coating, which resembles that found in wooden sculptures

Book khmer art

F telll between Bl’ﬁma and Duryodhana Third quarter of the 10th century Pink sandstone — 1.89 x 2.42 rn. From Banteay Srei (Siem Reap). Inventory no. C 32.10. Kaurava, and in front of him Bhima‘s four brothers seem to From the little temple of encourage their elder brother Banteay SYEL this triangular The sculptor succeeded in pediment is decorated With an isolating Duryodhana Without undulating pitch, which frames upsetting the overall balance the typanum on which an of the composition episode of the Mahabharata IS All the ﬁgures wear the ﬁnely depicted The scene is based pleated sampot with its tumed on a skillul distribution of the down border and different triangle. the pom! of which IS ornaments sculpted with great lormed by the diagonal of elegance in this scene, the Bhima's body, readyto lump ﬁgures In high reliel seem to and that of the swing plow detach themselves from the 1 held by Balarama, the brother bare background to express of the tour-armed Krishna their Violence, their stmggle, Below the ~terrible“ Pandava is Without ever detracting from his cousin Duryodhana. the the harmonious composmon ”inv1nc1ble"chielolthe ol the whole