no :

Shaka Triad Statue

R :

Could you say a little more about that?

M :

Sure. Let’s talk about the Shaka Triad statue in Horyuji. It’s very old. The metal is deteriorating/and some parts are missing. We could make a reproduction of it/as it looks today. However,/we wanted to restore the statue/to exactly the same condition it was in/when it was created in 623. You might say/we wanted to retain the original “genes.”

R :

So if we compare the actual statue in Horyuji/with its clone,/we’ll notice some differences,/right?

M :

That’s right. For one thing,/look at the central figure. It has curls of hair on its head. Some of these were missing in the original,/but they have been restored in the clone. We also restored the flying heavenly maidens/around the halo behind the figures.

R :

Very impressive! But how could you reproduce something you’ve never seen?

M :

That’s the tricky part. First of all,/we learned everything we could/about Buddhist statues. Then we supplemented that knowledge/with 3-D measurements of the statues. We also consulted academic references and records/in order to reproduce colors faithfully. The bronze we used/was as close to the original as possible.

R :

That must have taken a lot of time. And people.

M :

Lots and lots of people. Art history professors,/material analysis experts,/painters,/sculptors,/and traditional craftsmen. Specialists in Takaoka copperware and Inami wood carving/helped us make the castings. Without the partnership of cutting-edge technology/and traditional craftsmanship,/we couldn’t have completed our project.