Housed in the Palace of Archangel Michael and St. George, a Neoclassical building constructed in the early 19th century by the British, the Corfu Museum of Asian Art is home to an impressive collection of artifacts. The palace was the residence of the island’s British governors until 1864 and later served as the residence of the Greek royal family. Today, the palace is a cultural center that is home to a number of museums and cultural institutions.
The museum’s collection comprises more than 15,000 objects spanning thousands of years, including important works of Chinese and Japanese art, including ceramics, textiles, lacquerware, and paintings, as well as art from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the Islamic world. Many of the works on display here came from private collections, particularly that of Gregorios Manos.
One of the museum’s most notable holdings is a collection of Chinese porcelain dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The museum also has a strong collection of Buddhist art, with objects ranging from 2nd century Gandhara sculptures to contemporary Tibetan thangka paintings.
