Gilt Bronze Buddhist Statues, Halos and Repoussé Buddhist Images
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Queen Maya and Heavenly Beings (detail), Treasures from Horyu-ji, Asuka period, 7th century (Important Cultural Property)
The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures Room 2
January 2, 2021 (Sat) - April 11, 2021 (Sun)All of the 48 works of gilt bronze Buddhist statues in the Hōryūji Treasures are no more then 30–40 cm in height, and many of them are believed to have been used for private worship by local rulers. The halos date from around the same time as these gilt bronze statues, but they are displayed separately.
Repoussé Buddhist images could be mass-produced by placing a thin sheet of bronze over a relief image of a Buddhist divinity and hammering it into shape. In Japan, repoussé images flourished from the second half of the 7th to the early 8th century and were mostly hung on the walls of temple halls or kept in small shrines for private worship. The repoussé Buddhist images among the Hōryūji Treasures are a very important collection, not only in terms of age and number, but also for the variety of images.
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Important Cultural Property | Standing Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokitesvara) | Asuka period, dated 651 | N-165 | ||||
| Important Cultural Property | Nyorai (Buddha) and two attendants | Three Kingdoms period, 6th-7th century, Korea | N-143 | On exhibit through March 21, 2021 | |||
| Highlight | Important Cultural Property | Amida (Amitabha) and Two Attendants | Asuka period, 7th century | N-144 | |||
| Important Cultural Property | Seated Buddha, Painted red inside | Asuka period, 7th century | N-145 | On exhibit through January 11, 2021 | |||
| Important Cultural Property | Bosatsu (Bodhisattva) Seated with One Leg Pendent | Asuka period, 7th century | N-159 | On exhibit through January 11, 2021 | |||
| Important Cultural Property | Queen Maya and Heavenly Beings | Treasures from Horyu-ji | Asuka period, 7th century | N-191 | |||
| Highlight | Important Cultural Property | Amida (Amitabha) Triad and Two Priests, Made by hammering copper plates | Asuka period, 7th century | N-198 |