Representations of Religious Customs in Siam
Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716), a physician with the Dutch East India Company, visited Siam in 1690. The drawings he made of what he saw there served as the basis for this print. Kaempfer called the statue at the upper left ‘a monstrous Bacchus.’ And this is precisely how he depicted it; out of proportion and with large breasts. This is illustrative of the European outlook, wherein the (as yet) unknown was viewed with great interest.