Special Exhibition: Nanto Buddhist Paintings - Reviving the Beauty of Nara's Tempyo Era

About this event

Co-organized by Nara National Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the special exhibition "Nanto Buddhist Paintings - Reviving the Beauty of Nara's Tempyo Era" is the first attempt to trace the history of "Nanto Buddhist Paintings," the exquisite gems of Buddhist painting passed down in Nara. In the Nara period, cosmopolitan Tempyo paintings adorned great temples, and in the Heian period, graceful Buddhist paintings favored by aristocrats were worshipped. From the Kamakura period onward, archaistic Buddhist paintings based on Tempyo iconography were painted, and Buddhist painter-monks from workshops called "Nanto Edokoro" flourished. This exhibition offers a precious opportunity where masterpieces of Nanto-related Buddhist paintings in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston return home all at once. Together with selected masterpieces of Buddhist paintings and statues from Japan, including the collection of Nara National Museum, visitors can thoroughly enjoy the appeal of Nanto Buddhist paintings. Furthermore, a major highlight is the first public unveiling of high-definition color images of the colors of the Horyu-ji Kondo murals (damaged by fire in the Showa period), restored using the latest digital technology. Please fully enjoy the reviving beauty of Nara's Tempyo era, an experience available only at this exhibition.

Venue

Nara National Museum

50 Noborioji-cho, Nara, Nara 630-8213