Getty to show exact replicas of art-filled Buddhist caves in China

LOS ANGELES TIMES
By Mike Boehme
The Mogao Grottoes, a vast network of 492 caves in China, are covered with Buddhist murals. Exact replicas of three of the painted caves will come to the Getty Center in a 2016 show that also will include artifacts from the caves. (Neville Agnew / J. Paul Getty Trust)
CALIFORNIA---Showing replicas of artworks instead of the real thing is usually anathema to an art museum, but the J. Paul Getty Trust on Tuesday showed why that rule has its exceptions. The Getty Trust fleshed out details of its 2016 exhibition “Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China’s Silk Road,” which will include complete, exact, walk-in replicas of three decorated caves that artists adorned with Buddhist-themed murals over 1,000 years starting in the 4th century. [link]