The only extant photographs of the ancient mural paintings in the Golden Hall of the Horyuji Monastery in Japan went on display in Fogg Museum yesterday morning. Fire, which swept the monastery last Wednesday, destroyed virtually the entire collection of original murals.

Museum officials say the destruction of the Golden Hall murals is as much of a loss to Oriental art as the art treasures of the Sistine Chapel would be to Western art. The photographs on exhibition at Fogg are the only full-scale pictures of the series that exist in the Western world.

Fire Destroys Eleven

Eleven of the 12 murals were burned in the fire. Fogg obtained the series of the rare photographs from the noted philanthropist C. Adrian Rubel. Several large colored reproductions of the paintings are also being shown.

Horyuji was the oldest wooden building still standing in the world. It had been used by the Buddhist church from the time of its construction until the fire last week. During the seventh and eighth centuries, it was the court monastery of Japan and benefited from the direct patronage of the emperors.