Artists from the Chinese National Academy of Arts made a life-size copy of a 700-year-old mural, then compared it with the original at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The close study helped reveal mistakes in how some of its 274 fragments had been aligned and filled during a 1964 installation.
That shared work is now informing the painting’s care. Met conservators Cassia Balogh, Vicki Parry and Ameya Grant are treating the Buddha of Medicine in a project scheduled through May 2028, addressing discoloration and earlier infill. The collaboration combines artistic knowledge with scientific analysis, giving a familiar gallery landmark a more accurate future.