Fri, Mar 31, 2023
Designated national treasure “The Bodhisattva Fugen” is now on display at the Tokyo National Museum after a three-year absence from exhibitions due to thorough repair work.
‘The Bodhisattva Fugen’ on display at TNM
April 11 (Tue) – May 7 (Sun), 2023
Tokyo National Museum
Honkan (Japanese Gallery)Admission:
Adults: 1,000 yen
University students: 500 yen*The painting can also be viewed with tickets for “Tōfuku-ji,” a special exhibition running concurrently at Tokyo National Museum’s Heiseikan
(Closed on Mondays)
The 12th-century work of art is said to be one of the greatest masterpieces of Japanese Buddhist painting.
The repair work, conducted with financial support from the Tsumugu Project (a joint effort of Japan’s Cultural Affairs Agency, Imperial Household Agency and national daily The Yomiuri Shimbun to help preserve the nation’s artistic treasures), was completed at the end of March 2022. Conservators placed the painting under protective care for another year before releasing it for display in exhibitions.
What is ‘Fugen Bosatsu’?
– Buddhist painting produced during the Heian period (794-1192)
– Artist, provenance unknown
– Shows Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Fugen Bosatsu) riding on a white elephant with his legs crossed and appearing before the faithful (believers in the Lotus Sutra, a collection of Buddhist teachings) as flower petals flutter down
– One of the first works of art to be designated as “national treasure” by the Japanese government under the 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties
– Color on silk; 159.1 by 74.5 cm
– Currently housed at the Tokyo National Museum
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