Scholarly record
WHEN ITALY MEET THE ORIENT. ITALIANS ARTISTS AND THE KINGDOM OF SIAM
Abstract
It is here, in Oriental Hotel Bangkok (now Mandarin Oriental) in Thailand, that one gathers, around the Regio Parco Dusit Park, the stupendous fruit of the meeting between Italy and the Orient. An important story but not very famous story. An eclectic artistic-architectural treasure, in some ways fabulous, which developed in a few decades in the independent Kingdom of Siam. In fact, at the end of XIX century the rivalry between Britain and France in South West Asia ensures the survival of the Kingdom of Siam. The meeting between Bangkok and Italy occurred, in fact, between the end of the eighteen hundreds and the first few years of the nineteen hundreds, thanks to the King of Siam, Chulalongkorn (Rama V) who, attracted by the West, entrusted the Department of Public Works to Italian engineer Carlo Allegri. In this favorable context, on 19 May 1887, also opens the new Oriental Hotel. Thus there were many whose destination was Bangkok, some for just a few months and others who remained there permanently, like the Florentine sculptor Corrado Feroci (Silpa Bhirasi). Architects. Artists. Entrepreneurs. All undertook the long road towards the Court of Siam, today Thailand since 1939, to make their contribution to the modernization undertaken by the King.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References9
K. Ting, The Romance of the Grand Tour. 100 years of Travel in South Est Asia, Singapore, 2015, p. 122.
A. Augustin, The Oriental Bangkok, 2008, p. 36.
Ibid., p. 37.
A.M. Montaldo, L’avventuroso viaggio in Oriente dell’ineffabile Stefano Cardu: gli oggetti birmani della collezione, In Missionario e diplomatico. L’avventura di padre Paolo Abbona dal Piemonte alla Birmania, edited by A. M. Abbona Coverlizza, V. G. Cardinali, Italia, 2013, p. 228.
F. B. Filippi, Da Torino a Bangkok. Architetti e ingegneri nel Regno del Siam, Italia, 2008, p. 11.
F. B. Filippi, La costruzione del Palazzo del trono a Bangkok: il ruolo di Rigotti e le forniture europee, In La cultura thailandese e le relazioni italo-thai, edited by I. Piovano, Italia, 2005, pp. 273-274
F. B. Filippi, Da Torino a Bangkok. Architetti e ingegneri nel Regno del Siam, Italia, 2008, p. 89.
S. Maugham, The Gentlement in the Parlour, UK, 2001, p. 115 (first edition 1930).
Ibid., 126.
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.
