Conservation of a Wall Painting Tracing from the Kondo of Horyuji temple, Nara

This is a full-size tracing of wall no. 9, the Pure Land of Miroku, in the Kondo of Horyuji temple, Nara, painted in the late 7th century. In December 1879, the British diplomat Ernest Satow (1843-1929) visited Horyuji together with William Anderson and saw the Kondo wall-paintings. Realizing their importance, he commissioned the painter Sakurai Koun to produce a copy of wall no. 9, and this project began in May 1880. A duplicate copy was given to the head of the Museum Bureau, Machida Hisanari (1838-97), to encourage him to commission a full set of copies. Satow sent his copy of wall no. 9 to Anderson, who had returned to England in early 1880. Having formed part of the Anderson Collection at the British Museum since 1881, the drawing was rediscovered by Princess Akiko of Mikasa in 2007, during the research for her doctoral thesis.