Past Exhibitions

Art of the Lotus Sutra and Shakyamuni
February 20, 2018 - March 18, 2018

This exhibition features a set of “treasure pagoda” scrolls painted entirely from the Chinese characters of the Lotus Sutra. These early Kamakura period paintings previously belonged to the ancient temple of Hōryū-ji, in Nara, and are now owned by Ryūhon-ji, an important Kyoto temple of the Nichiren sect. Because the thick paper was creased and damaged from wear, the paintings were recently dismantled, conserved, and remounted over the course of four years, beginning in 2012. The last time the set was remounted was in 1681, under the patronage of the daughter of daimyo lord Nakazawa Hisatsune (1641–1695). The luxurious Edo-period gold brocade mounting borders chosen at that time have been preserved along with the Kamakura paintings, allowing us to enjoy the aesthetics of two periods of Japanese history.

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