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Ornamented Buddha protected by the
naga
Cambodia, Kompong Thom province,
Preah Khan (Kompong Svay)
Angkorian period
Angkor Vat style, first half of the
12th century
Sandstone
L. Delaporte Mission, 1873-74 |
Cambodia, exact provenance
unknown
Angkorian period
Bayon style, late 12th/early
13th century
Sandstone |
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Although it
bears no royal insignia or any
finery, this is the head of a
sovereign: Jayavarman VII (r.
1181-1218?). The king is
portrayed at a mature age, his
features somewhat fleshy, his
eyes lowered, meditating in
utmost humility. His lips are
set in the famous "Angkor
smile". The sculpture belongs to
the Bayon style (late 12th-early
13th century) in which sculptors
relinquished the rather
impersonal ideal canon of youth
and beauty of earlier periods,
adopting a more naturalistic,
terrestrial,
human style with
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modelling, and occasionally drawing
inspiration from the physiognomy of the
king or his contemporaries. Although
full of restraint, these works
profoundly express royal grandeur
through the sense of devotion and
spiritual serenity.
The Britsish Museum In London
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
The British Museum holds in trust for
the nation and the world a collection of
art and antiquities from ancient and
living cultures. Housed in one of
Britain's architectural landmarks, the
collection is one of the finest in
existence, spanning two million years of
human history. Access to the collections
is free.
The British Museum was founded in 1753
to promote universal understanding
through the arts, natural history and
science in a public museum. Since its
foundation, the British Museum has been
guided by three important principles:
that the collections are held in
perpetuity in their entirety; that they
are widely available to all who seek to
enjoy and learn from them and that they
are curated by full-time specialists. |
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