The Mandalay Period represents the
last great
cultural flourishing of Burmese art.
The period
was named after the city of Mandalay,
which
served as capital of Myanmar for a
brief period
(1860-1885 A.D.) during the reign of
King
Mindon. After the Anglo-Burmese Wars,
northern Myanmar was shut off from the
coastal
areas that were controlled by the
British. King
Mindon founded the new capital at a
sacred site
at the foot of a large hill. The
center of the city
was designed in the perfect
geometrical form of
a Buddhist Mandala, giving the city
its name.
Although this short-lived kingdom
finally fell to
the British forces in 1886 A.D. during
the Third
Anglo-Burmese War, the Royal Guilds
that
created such remarkable works of art
for the
King remained in the city where they
continued
to produce sculptures in the Mandalay
style.
This image of the Buddha contains the
iconographical features that are
usually seen
with a Buddha image, including
elongated
earlobes and the ushnisha at the crown
of the
head to symbolize his extended wisdom.
Here
the Mandalay style shines through the
naturalistic rendering of the robe
with stylistic
details.
- (PH.0203)
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