The Buddhist murals of Pagan : timeless vistas of the cosmos
Treasures hide in the temples of Pagan - treasures in part never meant to be seen, enshrouded in the darkness of high vaults. They compose a unique ensemble in the Buddhist world of the 11th to 14th centuries, offering a glimpse of lost splendour and providing evidence of the major political, religious and artistic position that Pagan then held. This comprehensive study covers the murals found within temples near Pagan and those in the surrounding area. Following an initial iconographic analysis, the author proceeds to reconstruct the overall vision of the murals within the broader context of the interior spaces of the temples, revealing these monuments as visualizations of the Buddhist cosmos and reflecting the cosmological (absolute) nature of the Buddha. Claudine Bautze-Picron is an authority on early Indic Buddhist art and her detailed descriptions of these lost treasures are complemented by a magnificent photographic record of the surviving murals themselves.