This version of this article was uploaded to Wikipedia on March 30th, 2005.
Silpa Bhirasri, the father of modern arts in Thailand, (born Corrado Feroci 15 September 1892 in Florence, died 14 May 1962) was an Italian sculptor invited to Thailand to teach western sculpture at the Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Palace Affairs in 1923. He changed his name and became a Thai national during World War II in 1944 in order to avoid arrest by the Japanese. A Thai commemorative stamp was issued on the centenary of his birth.
Works by Silpa include: