The Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Art and History on the Silk Road

The Dunhuang cave temples on China's fabled Silk Road constitute one of the world's most significant sites of Buddhist art. Founded by monks as an isolated monastery in the late fourth century, Dunhuang evolved into a spiritual and artistic mecca renowned throughout China and central Asia. Here, in some five hundred caves carved into rock cliffs at the edge of the Gobi Desert, was preserved the pageantry of one thousand years - miles of wall paintings, more than two thousand statues, magnificent works on silk and paper, and tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts.Cave Temples of Dunhuang tells the fascinating story of this remarkable site and of the nearby town, desert gateway to China. It also describes the long-term collaboration between the Getty Conservation Institute and Chinese authorities to preserve the Dunhuang shrines.