The Problem of the Donor Rank Portraits Individualization in the Murals of Dunhuang Monastery
The Problem of the Donor Rank Portraits Individualization in the Murals of Dunhuang Monastery

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the issue of the donor portraits individualization in the murals of the Dunhuang temple complex, one of the greatest monuments of Buddhist art in China. The comparison of portrait images of different times suggests that donor images had a great evolutionary path and had run through specific developments from a simple plate indicating the name of the person and his virtues to big compositions such as largescale personal portraits and family scenes. The individualization of the donor portraits in the temple paintings was manifested through historically truthful transfer of facial features, national features and depictions of typical manners, poses, facial expressions and gestures of the character. To create personalized images, artists used the traditional linear drawing technique which allowed them to show maximum similarity of the portrait to the person being portrayed. The comparison of the fresco painting of the Dunhuang temple complex from different eras gives grounds to designate that implementation of individualized national features to the portraits of the patrons was a reflection of socio-political, cultural and artistic processes taking place in the country. These processes are reflected in the increase in the size of the donors’ figures, the level of their individualization and details of the accompanying elements of the portrait such as costumes, jewelry, hairstyles and attributes that reflect a person’s social status.

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