Khmer art, enamored of measure, refinement and gaiety, open to all forms of life, is made up of images of the country and its inhabitants. However, among the arts of the Far East, there are few that are so accessible to Western taste. Its profound beauty imposes itself on the spirit and sensibility without the need for prior study. Its sobriety, its horror of excess, its sense of balance and harmony enable it to achieve universal value.” From “The Khmer” by M. Giteau, former director of the Phnom Penh Museum, Silvana Publisher, 1965. With this quotation opened the chapter on Khmer art in my catalog “Mon and Khmer Sculptures from the Sixth to the Thirteenth Centuries (1988), the result of a fascination with this culture that after almost forty years has remained intact, despite the fact that the study of Asian arts has introduced me to very different styles and forms, sometimes equally fascinating and sometimes with aspects that involve the mind more than the heart.
As early as the 18th century, French missionaries and travelers had begun to explore Cambodia; indeed, it was the French naturalist Henri Mouhot who discovered the largely forest-covered ruins of Angkor Wat. Archaeological excavations and restoration of temples and monumental complexes gave the French government the opportunity to transfer to France a large number of works, grouped in a spectacular permanent exhibition at the entrance to the Guimet Museum.

It is precisely in this large space that the exhibition on Khmer bronzes opens with the most striking work in the collection:the imposing bronze statue of a reclining Vishnu from the 11th century, discovered in the remains of a temple placed in the center of a large artificial reservoir for water conservation. After a long and complex restoration, this large lost-wax cast figure, 123 tall and 222 cm long, shows even in its incompleteness the harmony of a body that appears suspended in time. What a thrill to walk around it, discover its details and stop to observe the ineffable expression of its face, which, even with its eyes open, appears dreamy and transcendent

The exhibition continues in the basement and unfolds in several rooms that illustrate the history of bronze statuary from the first millennium B.C. and advanced casting techniques to focus on that historical period, between the 7th and 15th centuries, which saw the formation, economic and artistic affirmation, and finally the decline of the Khmer Empire.

The title “The Royal Bronzes of Angkor” takes its cue from the legend that everything from metalwork is the prerogative of the gods and kings, their manifestation on earth. They are therefore statues and objects intended for the public and private temples of the king, aristocracy and clergy, partly because the symbolic value of the materials (gold, silver and often gilded bronze) from which they are made reinforced in the eyes of the people the divine power embodied in the rulers.

Some 200 works including statues and ritual objects are on display and it is the largest exhibition ever organized on the bronze art of Khmer culture, thanks in part to the substantial loan from the National Museum in Phnom Penh. They are all images of the Hindu and Buddhist pantheon, the religions practiced in Cambodia until the 13th-14th centuries, when following the decline and then disappearance of imperial power, Buddhism became the country’s only religion.

Casting in bronze allows for a quality and definition of detail that is impossible in stone: tiaras and jewelry, the drapery of the clothing and the belts that hold them on the hips are works of high jewelry making these statues images of a supernatural nature. In addition, lost-wax casting makes it possible to create statues with multiple arms and in dance positions that make the figure rise as if detached from the base.

The largest ones (some are as high as 80 cm) were intended for the central altars of the temple, medium-sized ones could be carried in procession during special celebrations, and smaller ones were placed on domestic altars. When one considers the considerable number of temples and sacred complexes scattered throughout Cambodia, the production of metalwork must have been very substantial. Unfortunately, not many remain because following the collapse of central power around the 15th century, many temples were abandoned and many statues, partly because of the intrinsic value of the metal were melted down to reuse the material in other forms. For this reason, too, the exhibition is an opportunity to appreciate unique works, which in addition to being objects of worship with spiritual value reflect the sophistication of the aesthetics of Khmer culture.