Clik here to view.
Xuanzang and the Silk Road
The Director’s office sees all kinds of visitors. From curators and researchers to board members and potential donors, there is a diversity of interests and topics that get addressed over light...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Xuanzang and the Silk Road Pt. 2
In my last post I introduced a Japanese painting currently hanging in the Director’s office, here is the basic information about the piece: Title: Buddha with Sixteen Benign Deities (Shaka juuroku...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mes Aynak
With the violence and religious extremism that has indelibly shaped the contemporary world’s perception of Afghanistan, it often goes unremembered that the region for centuries flourished as a cultural...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Xuanzang and the Silk Road Pt. 3
Jinja Taishou on the left and Xuanzang on the right. Close up of 85-28-9. The iconography of Xuanzang, and its history, is quite fascinating. Bearing the typical shaved head of a Buddhist monk,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Seated Luohan from China [Object of the Day #17]
Luohan Statue from China The Penn Museum’s luohan is one of the most famous and important pieces in the museum’s collection. The fact that it is slightly larger than life size makes it a marvel of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Statue of Fudo [Object of the Day #44]
Statue of Fudo This statue of Fudo, one of the Myo-o (Knowledge Kings), sits in the midst of fire symbolizing invulnerability. Also known as the immovable one, he is a part of a fierce class of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Statuette from Liao Dynasty [Object of the Day #63]
10th Century Statuette from the Liao Dynasty, Manchuria, China. This gilt bronze statuette is a representation of the compassionate and venerated Guanyin, a popular figure in eastern Buddhism. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sculpture of Female Attendants [Object of the Day- #75]
19th Century sculptures from Northern Thailand These two statues are from Northern Thailand (19th Century). The one of the right, kneeling with her hands folded in front of her chest, represents a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Conserving the Buddhist Murals: An Introduction
Just because artifacts have been in our collections or even on display for a long time doesn’t mean we know all about them. A case in point is the large Buddhist Murals in our Chinese Rotunda, probably...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Two Buddhist Murals from Guangshengsi Monastery
Mural showing Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha. C688 Mural showing Tejaprabha, the Buddha of Blazing Light. C492 Two of the most fascinating objects in the Asian section are a pair of murals...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Getting the Murals to the Museum
It’s important to understand how an object actually comes into the museum. The Buddhist murals in the Rotunda are comprised of many different sized panels which entered the museum in stages. The mural...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How We Do What We Do
“Can you please explain what you’re doing?” is a question we hear daily. From a visitor’s perspective it doesn’t look like we’re doing much. Basically, we observe and document. A thorough condition...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Identifying the Tejaprabha Mural
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the mural depicting Tejaprabha Buddha originally came into the museum and was published with the central figure identified as Sakyamuni Buddha. However a few years...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Buddhist Medicine
The Asian Section is happy to host a guest blog post by C. Pierce Salguero, Assistant Professor of Asian History and Religious Studies at Penn State University’s Abington College. He is the author of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Buddhist Statues, Inside and Out
To the untrained eye, the Sakyamuni Buddha in the China Gallery appears visually similar to other nearby Buddha sculptures. While it borrows from traditional Buddhist iconography found during the Yuan...
View Article
