The exhibition "National Treasures of Miidera Temple," presently at Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, tells a fractured story of the famed Tendai Buddhist temple that spread its influence across the regional temples of western Japan, from the establishment of a core of sacred imagery, staturary and mandalas in its Heian Period (794-1185) infancy, to the aesthetic appreciation of its treasures by an American scholar in the 19th century.
Given this expanse of time, tantamount to the entire history of premodern Japanese art, a viewer's aesthetic enlightenment will likely come from selective meditation upon individual works — an incredible 60 of which are designated as national treasures or important cultural properties.
A 12th-century record dates the foundation of Miidera (also called Onjoji) to 686, and excavated roof-tile fragments in the exhibition — such as the 7th-century "Circular eave tile with plain six-petaled lotus" — lend archaeological support. The temple is said to have been established following the deathbed wish of Emperor Kobun, which was carried out by his son.