"Pilgrims to Nara Japan" - original oil painting

"Pilgrims to Nara Japan" original oil painting by Marianne L'Heureux for Sale.

     Sometime ago when I lived in Japan, I visited Nara, Japan, with my mother and family. We visited the Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara and inside the Temple I spotted two elderly ladies on a pilgrimage to see the Daibutsu statue. They were sitting inside the Temple near the entryway. Some years later I decided to create an oil painting depicting these two elderly pilgrims from the photo I took, leaving out the many people in the crowd. I created great detail in the kimono worn by one of the ladies using black ink and pen.  The painting measures 24X30 inches image, oil painting on canvass.

     Pilgrims to Tōdai-ji 東大寺 Temple. This temple is a Buddhist temple complex built in 752 A.D. and is in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden) houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha, 52 feet high (14 meters high) and weighs five hundred tons. The Hall is one of the world's oldest and largest wooden buildings. The original Temple complex also contained two pagodas, perhaps second only to the pyramids of Egypt in height at the time. 

     Recently, using x-rays, a pearls, mirrors, swords, and jewels were discovered inside of the knee of the Great Buddha statue and are believed to be the relics of Emperor Shomu of Japan (724-756 A.D.) 

This painting is no longer available.