Prince Narisara Nuvativongse

THAILAND; Bangkok period

Prince Narisara Nuvativongse, the son of King Rama IV (reigned 1851–1868), was an architect, artist, musician, designer, Thai historian, and archaeologist. He was known to be multi-talented, particularly in drawing and music, and was an open-minded and enthusiastic learner.
Prince Narisara’s novel creations gained a reputation for being the perfect fusion of Thai and European art. The temple halls and royal palaces designed by Prince Narisara are touted as exemplars of Bangkok period structures. His representative works of Buddhist architecture include Wat Benchamabophit in Bangkok, as well as the ordination hall, lecture hall, and stupa of Wat Rachathiwat in Bangkok. The ordination hall of Wat Benchamabophit is decorated with Italian marble and stained glass windows; it is seen as a contemporary masterpiece of Thai architecture. Wat Rachathiwat’s ordination hall, with a blue roof and white exterior walls, has mountain-shaped doorway lintel decorations in Khmer style with a series of Greek columns. The lecture hall was built with pomelo tree wood and decorated with gold. Wat Rachathiwat can hold 1,000 people and was once the largest wooden structure in Southeast Asia.
The Prince’s accomplishments in drawing and sculpting were extraordinary. He was commissioned in 1913 to restore the Standing Buddha statue from the site of Sri Satchanalai; the statue is now located in the north hall of Phra Pathom Stupa. The Bangkok government seal he designed in 1947 depicts Sakra mounted on an elephant and is still in use today. Prince Narisara is regarded as Thailand’s most exceptional artist, who made several significant contributions to the arts and culture of the country.