A two-year collaboration between Chinese specialists and their counterparts in the United States has resulted in a remarkable reproduction of a Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) mural depicting the Medicine Buddha, Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi Fo). Rich in vivid detail, the original mural is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The life-size replica is the centerpiece of an ongoing exhibition at the Chinese Traditional Culture Museum in Beijing. The exhibition reviews a decade of research into ancient Chinese murals along the Silk Road by the Chinese National Academy of Arts.
Details of the original Yaoshi Fo mural and the process of reproducing it were shared at the Symposium on Ancient Chinese Mural Art in Beijing, which brought together scholars and conservation specialists from China and abroad.
Discussions focused on mural conservation, iconography in mural art and cross-cultural approaches to the study of ancient art.
