Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7.139

c7.139

Buddhism became indeed the chief patron rather than the opponent of fine arts, which spread with it from India to Ceylon, Burma, Siam, and Java in the south, and to China and Japan in the north. It thus came to pass that it was important for even the priests to have some knowledge of the theoretical side of craftsmanship at least, and this was often the case; they were rather expected to explain such works as Sāriputra to the less learned craftsman than to learn from him. In the eighteenth century there were even craftsmen amongst the priesthood; but unordained, as the Siamese sect which alone existed then admitted only men of high caste to the priesthood itself (quite contrary to true Buddhism); such a man was Silvatenna, who painted at Degaldoruva and Ridi vihāra.