Going Through Hell

Worldwide, only around 160 Buddhist paintings from the Goryeo period (918–1392) have survived – one of which is part of the Korea collection in the Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Asian Art Museum). The hanging scroll, which will be on display on the third floor of the Humboldt Forum between April and October 2025, is one of the most precious testimonies of Korean art. It offers a fascinating insight into the independent Korean expression of a pictorial tradition that originated in China’s Tang dynasty (618–907): the depiction of the Bodhisattva Jijang (Sanskrit: Kṣitigarbha) and the Ten Kings of Hell.

This extraordinary work was comprehensively examined from both an art historical and scientific perspective for the first time between January 2023 and October 2024 as part of an interdisciplinary research project by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin) – in collaboration with the Rathgen-Forschungslabor (Rathgen Research Laboratory), international experts and with the generous support of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation.

The Korean paintings are characterised above all by their sophistication and meticulousness in the depiction of surface structures. Hell is depicted as a splendid image of the ruling elites of Goryeo. Fine tendril patterns and ornaments from the world of flora and fauna in fine but generously applied golden colour make this hanging scroll a unique work of art of 14th-century Korean painting.

The presentation of this hanging scroll is designed as a sensual experience: specially composed music evokes the Goryeo period, while two animated short films provide insights into the epoch and the research project.

The exhibition is curated by Maria Sobotka, Curator Korea Collections, Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.