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OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE
[ch. xv

at Amarapura and elsewhere. The materials used are marble and steatite.

In pictorial art, so far, Burmans have not attained a high standard. But there are native frescoes and pictures more quaint and grotesque than beautiful. Some frescoes on the walls and ceilings of zayats (rest houses) near the Shwe Dagôn Pagoda, representing the torments of lost souls, are realistically horrible. And there are many old frescoes at Pagan. One thing a Burmese artist can do. He can draw an elephant. An art school has been opened at Rangoon. It is possible that Burmese pictorial art has a future.