Like Burmese amulets (metal pieces placed under the skin, inside the body, and hidden from view), the successive layers of this painting are also an interplay between concealment and display. Similarly, layers of disused materials such as lead tempera ―hidden under archival varnishes and layers of oil paint and oil stick― are applied to a prepared wooden surface, thus revealing incisions and marks and developing a castle buried under dust, a scar that promises an amulet inside.