Lecture – Prince Shōtoku: The Secrets Within

In 1930, Ellery Sedgwick (1872–1960), owner and editor of The Atlantic Monthly, traveled from Boston to Japan, where he encountered an extraordinary 13th-century sculpture of Prince Shōtoku at Age Two. Sedgwick ultimately acquired the sculpture of Prince Shōtoku, who is regarded as the founder of Buddhism in Japan. When the sculpture arrived in the United States in 1937, a visiting Japanese conservator discovered that it contained an extraordinary cache of more than 70 dedicatory objects. It has taken over 80 years to begin to unlock the complex secrets of this princely time capsule, thanks to advances in technology and scholarship.

Presented in conjunction with Prince Shōtoku: The Secrets Within (May 25–August 11, 2019), this lecture by exhibition curator Rachel Saunders, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Associate Curator of Asian Art, and Angela Chang, assistant director of the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, will reveal the latest findings in a collaborative effort to interpret this unique ensemble from both inside out, and outside in.

After the lecture, guests are invited to visit the exhibition on Level 3 until 6pm.