Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c9.20

c9.20

The names of artificers are not recorded in their work, nor as a rule remembered except Silvatenna by their own descendants. The most famous painter of the late eighteenth century, however, appears to have been Devaragampala ‘Unnānse’ Silvatenna, an ‘unordained priest’ of ācāri caste, who painted at Degaldoruva, Riḍi Vihāra and elsewhere in Kirti Śrī’s reign. He wore a white robe and was unordained, because only Veḷḷalas were admitted to the priesthood by the Siamese sect, which was the only one then in existence, having been established in Ceylon as the result of Kirti Śrī’s and his predecessors’ missions *Artificers* to Siam.* The names of innumerable other craftsmen are recorded in *sannas* and deeds of various sorts, but can hardly ever be associated with any particular piece of work.