Falfestmények életnagyságú másolatai nemzetközi kontextusban: Egy európai gyakorlat hatása Kelet-Ázsiában és felhasználása az örökségvédelemben
Life-size replicas of murals in an international context: The impact of a European practice in East Asia and its use in heritage conservation

Author(s): Beatrix Mecsi
Subject(s): Museology & Heritage Studies, Visual Arts
Published by: Pécsi Tudományegyetem Művészeti Kar Művészettörténet Tanszék
Keywords: wall painting replicas; Anak No. 3 tomb; Koguryŏ murals; cultural heritage preservation; North Korean art; hyperrealism; East Asian art history; mural conservation; nationalism; Ferenc Hopp Museum
Summary/Abstract: The study examines the history and significance of life-size copies of ancient wall paintings in both Europe and East Asia, with particular attention to the fourth-century murals of the Anak No. 3 tomb in present-day North Korea. It focuses on the replicas preserved in the collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts in Budapest, which were created by North Korean artists in the 1950s at the request of the Hungarian embassy. The article demonstrates how mural copying practices developed differently according to historical, political, and cultural contexts. In nineteenth-century Europe, life-size mural reproductions became important tools for art education, nationalism, documentation, and heritage preservation. The author also discusses similar copying traditions in East Asia, especially in China and Japan, where reproductions served artistic, educational, and ideological purposes. The study compares Japanese colonial-era reproductions of Koguryŏ tomb murals with later North Korean copies, emphasizing their different motivations and visual approaches. While Japanese copies focused mainly on documenting motifs and forms, North Korean artists aimed to reproduce the murals with hyperrealistic precision, including visible damage and surface textures. These North Korean reproductions reflected socialist realist aesthetics and supported the construction of a new national identity after liberation from Japanese colonial rule. The article further explains how large-scale collaborative copying projects became integrated into North Korean cultural policy and museum exhibitions. Finally, the study argues that such mural replicas are valuable not only as artistic objects but also as important documentary sources for cultural heritage preservation and the study of historical change.

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