Five 12th-century paintings on silk, part of a series of The Kings of Hell, were restored and remounted recently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. These paintings were framed and retained part of the previous mounting. There was extensive abrasion, deterioration, and loss of silk. The pigments were unstable with considerable lifting, flaking, and a generally powdery condition throughout. There is extensive pigment also applied on the reverse. Pigments were gradually consolidated with numerous applications of animal glue. It was determined that some areas of the previous first backing of the paintings would not be removed as traces of pigment, indicating forms and lines of the original, remained. Each painting was dampened, smoothed out on a table, and the last and middle backings were removed. On a light table the process of removing the first backing was begun. Careful prior study with notes and marked enlarged photographs aided in the process of removing, or leaving in place, certain portions of the first backing. Since the painting must remain damp throughout this process, which continued over a three-day period, the temperature of the workroom was lowered to discourage mold growth. Overnight a Plexiglas box covered the painting to deter evaporation. When removal of the necessary portions of the backing was complete, the new first backing was immediately applied. Repairs were made by filling in with silk the areas which had been entirely lost. The portions of the previous backing which had traces of pigment remaining were not filled. In-painting of the repaired areas blended them with the surrounding pigments; no lines or forms lost from the original were added. The proportions and textiles of the new mounting were selected to be consistent with the earliest known mountings of Chinese Buddhist paintings. -- AATA