This Thursday evening (Aug. 23), you will have a chance to listen to members of a conservation team as they prepare to launch a major project to analyize and study our 1,000-year-old Guanyin Bodhisattva. The program will be held at 6:30 p.m. in Gallery 230 and will be repeated at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.
The sculpture is recognized internationally as a masterpiece, yet questions concerning its original appearance remain unsolved. Over a period of 4 days, a conservation scientist is assisting Museum conservation staff with a technical examination of the sculpture, followed by weeks of lab work.
The results of this study will be published as part duex of an interactive feature on the Museum's website. The first half of the feature will cover the art historical background on the sculpture and will appear later this year.
By the way, the Guanyin is one of my favorite works of art in the Museum. You can read more about it here, here and here.