Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road

The Getty Research Institute presents a collection of artifacts from the Mogao caves which bore witness to the intense religious, artistic, and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, the trade routes linking East and West.

The Mogao caves, located near the town of Dunhuang in the Gobi Desert of northwest China, comprise some 500 decorated Buddhist cave temples dating from the 4th to the 14th century. Filled with exquisite wall paintings and sculptures, the caves bear witness to the intense religious, artistic, and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, the trade routes linking East and West. Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road features numerous objects originally from the site—such as paintings and manuscripts that have rarely, if ever, traveled to the United States, as well as three spectacular full-size cave replicas. The exhibition celebrates more than 25 years of collaboration between the Getty Conservation Institute and the Dunhuang Academy to preserve this UNESCO World Heritage Site.