Abstract
Paintings of funeral scenes are rare in Asian art. The most common theme associated with funerals in Thai art is the death scene of the Buddha referring to hisparinirvāṇa. Even though depictions of the actual funeral of the Buddha are generally scarce in both Indian and Southeast Asian art, in Thai art the Buddha’s funeral became an important subject of Thai mural paintings and manuscripts around the 18th century.¹ By around the second half of the 19th century, another type of funeral and cremation scene appeared in Thai Buddhist manuscripts and mural paintings. This funeral scene depicts the funerals