Day at the Museum

A trip to any museum is the perfect outing on a cold winter day. However, our excursion to the National Museum of Korea happened to fall on one of the sunniest days since fall. The weather is warming up already and efforts to stay indoors are not as important as they once were. Despite the beautiful weather, we stuck with our plan to accomplish at least one floor of Asia's largest museum. 

You can just make out Seoul Tower in the background of the gigantic breezeway.

Derrick and Lee were too excited to visit the museum.

Located in Seoul, the National Museum of Korea was first established in 1945, but opened in its current location, Yongsan Family Park, in October 2005. The museum boasts 150,000 pieces in its collection, but only displays nearly 11,000 pieces at one time. Due to its immense size, a one-day visit is not nearly enough time to view the museum's many treasures.  

Beginning with the oldest artifacts, we visited the Archaeological Gallery first. Artifacts from the Paleolithic to the Balhae era told the story of a Korea long ago. Tools made from stones, antiquated weaponry, and ancient pottery provided a three-dimensional scrapbook of life thousands of years ago.  

National Treasure No. 287, the Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje.

Tiles used somewhere at sometime. They had replicas in the form of hot pads in the gift shop. Of course, I bought one.

A little man with a gun.

Gold crown and belt.  Also a National Treasure, but I can't remember the name or number...

Standing about 33 feet tall, the Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda (National Treasure No. 86) is an impressive site on the first floor of the museum.

View from the third floor

Unique brushwork and defined detail showcase the paintings and calligraphy in the Fine Arts Gallery I. Mountainous backdrops and Asian inspired flowers were a common muse for the painters as they attempted to capture the Korean landscape. The paintings, though all beautiful, began to blend together as I strolled from room to room. 

Perhaps my most favorite gallery of the day, Fine Arts Gallery II contains 630 pieces of Buddha inspired sculpture and handiwork. The world-renowned, and Korean National Treasure No. 83, Bangasayusang (or Meditating Maitreya) is one of the most popular works in the museum. Consequently, it is also the most highly insured. 

Meditating Maitreya

I had to wait until everyone else was out of the gallery in order to execute my pose.

photo courtesy of Lee Carroll

Rock, paper, scissors!

Photo courtesy of Lee Carroll

Goodbye museum!