He was 76, his grandson about eight. The boy's letter is not in the show. A portrait depicts the Emperor Shomu, one of the earliest imperial connoisseurs, who commissioned the 53-foot statue of Buddha still to be seen in Nara. There are love pictures, landscapes, battle scenes, bird, flower and animal pictures even a tender painting of a sleeping Chinese baby. Twelve Centuries of Japanese Art from the Imperial Collections'' will be at the Sackler Gallery until March 8, 1998.
Admission is free.