Painting and Textiles
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Illustrated Biography of Prince Shōtoku (detail)
By Hata no Chitei, Heian period, 1069 (National Treasure)The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures Room 6
October 27, 2026 (Tue) - November 29, 2026 (Sun)The Gallery of Hōryūji Treasures contains paintings from as early as the 11th century—including the National Treasure the Illustrated Biography of Prince Shōtoku (1069 AD), which depicts the legends surrounding Hōryūji Temple’s founder. Other works include the Important Cultural Property the Four Sages at Mount Shang, and Wen Wang and Lu Shang (1364 AD) along with numerous paintings featuring Buddhist themes.
The textiles held in the collection date from the mid-7th to 8th century and consist mainly of Buddhist ritual banners (ban), table mats (joku), and robes or other clothing worn by monks. The textiles also include fragments whose original uses are unknown, including rare ancient textiles, such as warp-faced compound weaves, tapestries, warp ikat fragments, complex gauze (ra), and plain- and twill-weave silks.
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Highlight | National Treasure | Illustrated Biography of Prince Shōtoku | 10 panels | By Hatano Chitei | Heian period, 1069 | N-1 | |
| Highlight | Important Cultural Property | Embroidered Buddhist Image | Asuka period, 7th century | N-32-3 | |||
| Highlight | Important Cultural Property | Embroidered Buddhist Image | Asuka period, 7th century | N-32-4 | |||
| Important Cultural Property | Embroidered Buddhist Image | Asuka period, 7th century | N-32-12 | ||||
| Important Cultural Property | Embroidered Buddhist Image | Asuka period, 7th century | N-32-13 | ||||
| Important Cultural Property | Embroidered Buddhist Image | Asuka period, 7th century | N-32-14 | ||||
| Highlight | Fragment of an Embroidered Mandala with Scenes of the Afterlife of Prince Shōtoku | Asuka period, ca. 622 | I-336-92 |