Techniques in the Reign of King Rama III on the Murals inside the Ordination Hall of Wat Phra Chetuphon
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Abstract
The ordination hall of Wat Phra Chetuphon was constructed in accordance to the intention of King Rama III. Its murals are interesting in the aspect of themes and techniques. The murals show the themes that had never been painted before, such as Mahosot Jataka and 41 disciples (these themes replace the traditional themes, namely the Lord Buddha’s life, the last ten previous lives, Buddhist cosmology and the assembly of deities). From the research, it is found that the artisans inherited some techniques from the ancient tradition. For example, in the painting of Mahosot Jataka, the position of each scene was arranged by considering the place in which that scene took place. Another example is that the details on the lower walls are smaller than those of the upper walls: this shows the consideration of artisans towards the distance between the walls and watchers, as well as the importance of each scene. The two aforementioned techniques were used before the reign of King Rama III. However, the artisans of King Rama III created some new techniques. For instances, the scenes were painted continually on the four upper walls; the artisans gave importance on sceneries and architectures. Those new techniques were probably related to the inspirations from the foreign art, especially Chinese art, and to the huge size of the building.
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