Ryuichi Abe, Melissa M. McCormick
Examines works in the Harvard Art Museums in art historical, literary, and religious context in preparation for future exhibitions. The Fall 2016 seminar focused on the celebrated thirteenth-century sculpture of Shôtoku Taishi (99.1979.1), the texts, sculptures, and relics, once stored inside the statue, and how the ensemble sheds new light on Kamakura religious history, charismatic monks such as Eison and Ippen, and the meaning behind dedicatory offerings by nuns and laypeople in the medieval period.