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Gold Tesserae of Mosaics in Hagia Sophia: Color and Composition Analysis
Get PDFHagia Sophia is one of the world’s most famous cultural heritage sites because of its unique structural system,coexistence of religions,and various mosaics that were executed from the 6th to the 14th centuries.
In Hagia Sophia, an interesting subject for scholars is the date of the mosaics. Attempts have been made to identify the correlation of materials and dates. Differences among the materials and techniques of each era can be determined by visual observation and measurement of tessera size.The characteristics of mosaics have also been identified by color spectral reflectivity survey. Now 10 samples of cover glass of tesserae from 2 mosaics (at South Gallery and South Aisle)are being analyzed to verify previous considerations. The possibility that both mosaics were executed in an earlier period, such as from the 6th to the 9th centuries,may be pointed out on the basis of analysis of these samples.journal articl
Material for Art Research, Comments on Little Known Paintings: A Brief Introduction to Works in the Portland Art Museum (1)
Get PDFThe Portland Art Museum in the US state of Oregon is one of America’s many museums with a fascinating history. While little known in Japan, this museum houses an impressive Japanese painting and print collection. The majority of these works are ukiyo-e prints, but there are also a considerable number of hanging scrolls, folding screens and paintings in other formats. While our time in Portland was limited and thus we were not able to conduct an exhaustive survey, we were able to survey a number of works in the collection, focusing on the folding screens. We will introduce a selection of the noteworthy examples from our survey in two issues of this journal. This first section of the introduction presents the following five works.
1. Fragment of a Tohokuin Shokunin-uta-awase-e (Poetry Contest of Artisans) Handscroll, Unmounted handscroll fragment, color on paper, H. 26.2 cm, W. 59.3 cm
This work is a fragment of a version of the Tohokuin Shokunin-uta-awase-e handscroll that presented 12 pairs of 24 different types of artisans. This fragment shows the sword sharpener and metal founder pairing, with the sword sharpener in the act of sharpening a sword on a whetstone, seen with a bucket filled with water, a whetstone and two swords out of their sheathes. The metal foundry scene shows a person holding a round fan, a flaming brazier in front of an earthen wall-like structure appears to the left front of that person, and part of a person is seen behind that brazier. While the line work and stiff composition suggest that this work is a copy of some traditionally handed down version, this fragment is an important example of a Tohokuin Shokunin-uta-awase-e handscroll that dates back to the Muromachi period (16th century).
2. Birds and Flowers, Six-panel screen, color on paper, H. 156.8 cm, W. 235.0 cm
This unsigned birds and flowers screen has been traditionally attributed to Oguri Sôtan, and is a rare example of a bird and flower theme painting that includes elements such as insects and fish. The overall composition and motif arrangement is somewhat haphazard. The colors are generally vivid and lightly applied, and the painter used a relatively limited number of colors. A slight amount of gold paint was used on the work, primarily in the area surrounding the distant hills in the composition’s upper left. The painting reveals the influence of various painting schools, including the Kanô school, and we would like to suggest that it was produced sometime around the mid to late 16th century by a painter who worked in older styles and was not a member of the mainstream art schools of the day.
3. The Arrival of the Europeans, Pair of six-panel screens, color on gold ground on paper, each screen H. 153.9 cm, W. 359.6 cm
The left screen shows cargo being unloaded from a European galleon that had arrived in Japan from overseas. The right screen shows a procession of the foreigners from the ship on land, and Japanese residents and officials welcoming them. The screens bear neither signature nor seals to identify their painter and no provenance information to clarify their history accompanied the work into the Portland collection. The figural and architectural expression is close to that of the Kanô school, exhibiting neither stylistic breakdown nor imitation of an older style. Conversely, the depiction of the rocks, trees and waves does not suggest Kanô style, while also avoiding imitation of an earlier style. This painting can be thought to date to the first half of the 17th century, which makes it a relatively old and good example of the so-called Namban Screen genre in a collection outside of Japan.
4. The “Nowaki” Chapter of the Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari), Two-panel screen, color on paper, H. 146.8 cm, W. 168.8 cm
This two-panel screen made up of five tiers of painting paper presents a scene from “Nowaki” (Typhoon), the 28th chapter of the Tale of Genji. The morning after the typhoon, known as nowaki, young girls are shown in Akikonomu no Chûgû’s garden of the Rokujôin residence, giving water to insects in their cages. The bamboo fence-enclosed garden expands in front of a diagonally arranged building, while a stream can be seen in the upper right. There are five girls in the garden, and two women appear on the narrow veranda alongside the garden. All seven figures have somewhat long jaws and plump cheeks, unlike the more usual hikime-kagihana slit-eyes-and-hook-nose facial depiction method.
Painted in a gentle style with pale ink for the overall forms, the outlines of the eyes, upper eyelid, nostrils, and mouth are all drawn in dark ink. Tale of Genji screens were frequently produced from the early pre-modern era onwards by a range of different painting schools and this screen can be seen as a work from the first half of the 17th century depicting a single chapter from the tale.
5. Itsukushima and Famous Sites of Ômi, Pair of six-panel screens, color on gold ground on paper, each screen 143.1 cm, W. 341.5 cm
The left screen of this pair depicts Itsukushima, while the right screen presents the famous sites of the Ômi region. This pair of screens can be thought to be one example of the many pairs of six-panel screens created in the 17th century that combine images of Itsukushima with those of Amanohashidate or Wakanoura. More so than a tendency towards accurately depicting the actual scenery or temple and shrine architecture, this pair of screen seems to be a case of an artist depicting groups of figures at will in scenery that looked somehow familiar. The paintings present a mixture of stylistic elements from various schools, and thus it can be surmised that a machi-eshi (town painter for hire) painted this work.journal articl
Report on “Taketomishima no tanetori” Filmed in 1974: Films in the Collection of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Their Digitization (2)
Get PDFAs of March 2015, the Department of Cultural Heritage of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo has a collection of 35 positive films that its organizational predecessor, the Department of Performing Arts, collected, filmed or to which they were donated. In the past fiscal year, six of these films were digitized and a report was made of the results of investigation of their content. This fiscal year, the project was continued and two of the films have been digitized and their content investigated. The results of the investigation are introduced in this paper.
The two films that were digitized are “Taketomishima no tanetori, part 1” and “Taketomishima no tanetori, part 2,” both of which were produced in 1974 by the then Association for the Preservation of Traditional Cultural Properties. The films were donated to the Institute by Mr. Yamanouchi Tokio, the director.
Tanetori festival that is held on Taketomishima, an isolated island in Yaeyama County, Okinawa Prefecture, has been continued since 600 years ago – 900 years ago according to another theory. For the people of the island, it is a ritual in prayer for abundant harvest. Moreover, it also functions as a way to tie the people of the island together with an attractive centripetal force and to support the formation of the local community.
Being documentary films taken approximately 40 years ago, they are invaluable materials in considering the transmission of intangible folk cultural performing arts that change with time through comparison with their present state.departmental bulletin pape
Sakyamuni descending the mountain : restoration report : the cooperative program for the conservation of Japanese art objects overseas
Get PDFケルン市博物館東洋美術館 (ドイツ連邦共和国) 所蔵 Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Museen Köln仲安真康作, 紙本墨画 掛軸装1幅, 室町時代15世紀 By Chuan Shinko
A hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper
15th century, Muromachi era平成 23 年度修復事業 2011 Japanese Fiscal Yearboo
Hanshan and Shide : restoration report : the cooperative program for the conservation of Japanese art objects overseas : No.2011-3
Get PDFケルン市博物館東洋美術館 (ドイツ連邦共和国) 所蔵 Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst, Museen Köln伊藤若冲作, 紙本墨画 掛軸装1幅, 1763年 By Ito Jakuchu, A hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper, 1763平成 23 年度修復事業 2011 Japanese Fiscal Yearboo
Investigation of Thermal Environment inside the Shelter for Hinooka Tumulus
Get PDFFrom the conservation point of view, one of the main problems in the shelter for Hinooka Tumulus is condensation on the ceiling and walls especially in winter.In order to understand the mechanism of the formation of condensation and to consider countermeasures to prevent it, the thermal environment inside the shelter was investigated by on-site measurements and calculations using a simulation program, NETS.
From the on-site measurements, it was found that the relative humidity inside the shelter is almost 100% throughout the year. During the night, particularly in winter, the temperature on the surface of the ceiling and walls drops rapidly and becomes lower than the dew point, resulting in the formation of condensation. The result of calculation obtained by NETS reproduced the measurement result reasonably well.
Assuming that 10cm of soil is stacked on the roof of the shelter, the thermal environment was recalculated by using NETS. As a result, the calculation predicted that the variation of temperature on the surface of the ceiling would be moderated because thermal insulation was increased.This analysis result indicates the possibility of reducing condensation by supplementing materials on the roof.journal articl
Pyrosequence Analysis for the Microbial Community in the Kitora Tumulus under Intermittent UV Irradiation
Get PDFAlmost all of the plaster walls and ceilings with polychrome mural paintings covering the interior of the stone chamber in the Kitora Tumulus were relocated in 2008,and all of the plaster without paintings were also relocated completely in 2010. Intermittent UV irradiation was applied to control microbes on the remaining plasters from 2009 to 2013.
Although significant fungal growth on the plaster was suppressed effectively, continuous monitoring for the changes of the microbial communities under intermittent UV irradiation control inside the stone chamber is still necessary.
In the present study, pyrosequencing analysis was performed to monitor current microbial communities on the stone surface. From the result of bacterial community analysis, the genera Jiangella, Promicromonospora and Streptomyces in the phylum
“Actinobacteria”were detected in high abundance in some samples. For fungal communities, the genus Farlowiella in the class Dothideomycetes,the genera Mariannaea,Beauveria, and Acremonium (Sarocladium-clade) in the class Sordariomycetes, the genus
Thelebolus in the class Leotiomycetes, and the genera Phialophora and Exophiala in the class Eurotiomycetes were detected predominantly.
Because the stone chamber of the Kitora Tumlus was buried in 2013, it will not be possible to collect more samples for microbial analysis. Basic information obtained from a series of microbiological surveys in the Kitora Tumulus under intermittent UV irradiation
will be helpful for future development to conserve other stone chambers and mural paintings.journal articl
Research Note: Research on the Internet Version of Mizue: Prospects for the Digital Publication of Art-related Materials and Art Archives
Get PDFThe Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (NRICPT), Tokyo, continues to investigate how to disseminate information about cultural properties, and conducts joint research with the Research and Development Center for Informatics of Association of the National Institute of Informatics (NII). One aspect of this joint research is to make Mizue, an art magazine published in the Meiji period, available online (http://mizue.bookarchive.jp/). Mizue, the object of this joint research, was a monthly art periodical founded by the watercolorist Ôshita Tôjirô in 1905 (Meiji 36). It was continually published since its Meiji beginnings, with a brief hiatus in 1992, followed by resumption of publication in 2001, and then halted again in 2007. Mizue is not only an art magazine spanning a century; it had an enormous influence on the art world of modern Japan, and is particularly valuable as a reference source amongst overseas researchers of Japanese modern art. However, it has been hard to find copies of Mizue from the Meiji period, up through issue No. 90, and very few libraries have a complete run of the periodical. Thus the set at the NRICPT is particularly important. It is also noteworthy that there has been a strong desire for the NRICPT set of Mizue to be made publicly available. Within its overall run, the copyright on the articles and other elements of the Meiji period issues has in many instances expired. Thus there were grounds for making just the Meiji era issues available online.
In our joint research and development, premised on the idea of making the periodical available online, we felt that Mizue would serve a broad range of needs from users who require access to a variety of information. Further, regarding the dissemination of information about cultural properties that is primarily in text form, we thought that we could offer one method of making an entire periodical with its imagery available to the public. As part of this process we brought together the accumulated knowledge and know-how of the NRICPT Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems and the NII Research and Development Center for Informatics of Association. Another issue confronting our joint work was how to completely distance our project from previous publication methods which involved PDF and micro format photographs and the simple presentation of these visual elements online. Each issue of Mizue included polychrome picture postcards and illustrations. It was one of the few magazines of its time with high standards for full color printing. It is not hard to imagine that these standards reflected those of its founder Ôshita Tôjirô. If this magazine were presented online with solely monochrome images, it would be hard to convey the full character and fascination of this magazine. This became another problem facing the process of making Mizue available online.
After research and development was carried out with the above-mentioned issues fully in mind, the first operation was to convert the entire contents of the magazine into text format. This entire text version was then made available online, pasted onto the unseen side of the images on each page of Mizue, and this provided a basis for searches by keywords and proper names.
During that text conversion process it became apparent that the resulting text was neither totally accurate nor sufficiently detailed when OCR software was simply applied to the Meiji period printed texts. This was largely due to the fact that these pages included a large amount of old kanji and irregular character forms. When the search index was being created it was hard to get a good match between old kanji/new kanji, and irregular character forms and new character forms. This meant further research and development on the study of dictionary functions. The overall text that was created through this process resulted in a database with a rich volume of information that could be retrieved by searches made from a variety of starting points.
We also implemented the basic plan for a database including the entire text format. This plan includes the survey and analysis of the articles, illustrations, author names, volume and paper qualities of the journals themselves. It meant that we attained a new grasp of the materials on a material, data, theory, article, and knowledge level, allowing for the creation of a book archive database with a structure of unprecedented detail.
Thus, we reconfirmed our awareness that the joint research conducted with the NII’s Research and Development Center for Informatics of Association -- which engages in numerous information search services related to cultural properties such as Cultural Heritage Online and Imagine -- linked to the creation of a high-quality archive based on cultural properties information characteristics and opens up one prospect for examining the potential utilization of a diverse array of cultural resources.journal articl
Analysis of an Ancient Adhesive, the So-called “Mamenori”(Unfermented Soybean Paste)
Get PDFIn Japanese paper conservation, brown paste is often observed on ancient paper documents for jointing sheets. This paste is hard and insoluble in water, and even when water is applied to the paste,the sheets cannot be separated. Japanese paper conservators
call this paste “mamenori”(unfermented soybean paste).
It is mentioned that soybean had been used as an adhesive for paper documents in 8th, 10th, and 13th century archives. However,soybean is not used in Japanese paper conservation these days. “Mamenori”is an uncertain material because much is unclear about it, such as the way of preparing and using it.
The aim of this study is to clarify what “mamenori”is. Characteristics of brown paste by which conservators recognize the paste as “mamenori”were surveyed. They notice four points:brown color,insoluble in water,used on ancient documents,and used for
jointing sheets.
Samples of four “mamenori”were analyzed, and it was found that their spectra are similar and that they are also similar to that of soybean except for 1720cm-1 absorbance which has its origin in lipid of soybean.journal articl
Material for Art Research, Transcription of Ogawa Kazumasa's Letters to Kuroda Seiki
Get PDFOn October 18, 1910, Kuroda Seiki (1866–1924) and Ogawa Kazumasa (1860–1929) were named teishitsu gigeiin, art experts in service to the Japanese imperial court.While from different fields, Western style painting and photography, a letter dated April 26, 1910 among Ogawa’s letters addressed to Kuroda indicates that they were aware of each other prior to being named to their imperial household posts. The letters are about requests or thanks for gifts, and appear monthly, thus indicating that the two men were in regular contact, and this continued even after Ogawa closed his own photography studio and photoengraving company.
Ogawa was six years older than Kuroda. Even though he was younger, Kuroda had spent almost a decade, from ages 18 to 27, studying in France, and taught at Tokyo Bijutsu Gakkô after his return to Japan. He was the rising star of the Western painting world in Japan, building a reputation for himself despite his youth. For Ogawa, it was an honor to become close to Kuroda, and Ogawa’s respect for Kuroda can be seen in his letters.
The points in common between the two men include their overseas study experience, their dauntless pursuit of new expressive methods never before seen in Japan, and their success in that endeavor. Ogawa’s overseas study was not as lengthy as Kuroda’s, but he set out for America in order to learn photographic techniques. After his return he used his acquired knowledge, taking photographs, and energetically developing his photographic printing and publishing work, breathing new life into the photography industry in Japan. After his return from France, Kuroda led the Japanese Western painting world into new forms of painterly expression, and thus undoubtedly felt a sense of shared closeness with Ogawa through their innovative endeavors.
It is unclear when the two men met, but their critiques of photographs in the Hana-no-kage journal published by the Kakô-kai photography group started by members of the Japanese nobility provide historical materials showingtheir connection prior to the dates on extant letters. Their photography critiques were first published in Hana-nokage in March 1907, and thus it can be presumed that they had actually met by that time. Hana-no-kage itself was first published in 1903, and if like other photography groups of the period, the Kakô-kai held meetings, it is possible that Kuroda or Ogawa may have been invited to such meetings, and thus they may have met at an even earlier date.
Ogawa Kazumasa was born in Gyoda, Musashi province (present-day Gyoda city, Saitama prefecture), and after learning the wet collodion process he left Japan for America in July 1882. In Boston he learned the collotype process and dry plate production, returning to Japan in January 1884. In 1885 he opened the Gyokujun-kan photography studio in Iida-machi 4-1, Kojimachi-ku, Tokyo. In 1888 he acted as a record photographer in the treasures survey of the Kinki region conducted by Kuki Ryûichi of the Imperial Household Agency and others, taking large numbers of photographs of ancient art works. Further utilizing the knowledge and techniques learned in America, he experimented with collotype printing, later opening the Ogawa Shashin Seihanjo (literally, Ogawa’s photoengraving company) in Hiyoshi-chô, Tokyo. This led to his fullscale production of collotype printed works. This studio produced the collotype plates for the art journal Kokka, founded in October 1889.
Ogawa acted as a consultant for the Bankoku-shashinkokai (international photography association) held in conjunction with the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, setting off for America once again. During this visit Ogawa learned about the halftone process, and after buying printing equipment, tools, and materials in America he returned to Japan. He began halftone-printing work in February 1894. Then during the First Sino-Japanese War (July 1894–March 1895), he produced the photographic plates for the Nisshin senso jikki (August 1894–January 1896) published by the Hakubunkan and the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun’s supplement. During the Russo-Japanese War (February 1904–September 1905) he printed and published a large number of photographic albums, including the Nichirô sen’eki shashinchô (total 24 volumes, The Ordnance Survey Office, 1904–1905), Nichirô sen’eki shashinchô (Photographs by Imperial Headquarters Photographic Department, The Ordnance Survey Office, 1906), and the Nichirô sen’eki kaigun shashinchô (Ichioka Tajirô, author, 1905). In April 1905 the Great Colored Photographs Exhibition of the Russo-Japan War was held in the Number 5 building of the former exposition buildings in Ueno Park, and thus he played a major role in war journalism. For his Russo-Japanese War achievements overall, on April 1, 1906, Ogawa was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays. Thanks to this recognition, he received a variety of honors, and in 1910, he was the first photographer named an art specialist in service to the imperial household.
Thus Ogawa brought technologies to Japan from overseas at an early date and put them to use in the development and success of his business endeavors. In the shadows of this success however, was the support of Viscount Okabe Nagamoto (1855–1925). Viscount Okabe understood photography and himself took pictures, serving as the vice-chairman of the Nihon Shashin-kai, Japan’s first such group established in 1889 with Ogawa as the organizer. In 1893 Okabe was one of the organizers of the Dai Nihon Shashin Hinpyôkai. The Hinpyôkai welcomed numerous members of the aristocracy, Tokugawa Atsuyoshi was the chairman of the group and the members of the nobility were all named honorary members. Having members of the nobility as the chairman and vice chairman probably lent authority to the group, but it was a fact that many of the nobility of the day were photographic aficionados, and that tendency can be seen amongst many of them with diplomatic or overseas study experience. They are thought to have taken photographs of scenes they witnessed while overseas and as some sort of record of their journeys, and after their return to Japan they joined photography groups that had a salon-like atmosphere and represented gatherings of intellectuals from both Japan and overseas. The Kakô-kai was the highest ranking gathering of upper class members interested in photography, and their journal, Hana-no-kage, became printed photographic compendia that allowed them to publish their photographs as they liked. Unlike ordinary photographic groups, whose membership was too large to allow compendia of works by all members, the Kakô-kai had only a small number of members, and their publications were further realized because all the members were of the same status.
Not only did Kuroda Seiki provide photographic critiques for Hana-no-kage, he also acted as a judge for photographic contests held by such organizations as the Tokyo Photographic Materials Association. Kuroda, a professor at Tokyo Bijutsu Gakkô and a leading Westernstyle painter, was probably asked to be a judge in order to add tone to the contest. In the same manner, for the noble members of the Kakô-kai, having Kuroda provide photographic critiques in Hana-no-kage may have made them feel that their works would be more highly valued. This would have also been the case for photographic critiques by Ogawa, a major force in the Japanese photographic world of the day. Inviting the two men to provide critiques, and the publication itself of the Hana-no-kage, can be considered the shining moments of Japanese photography during a time when photography was still new and available to and enjoyed by only a limited number of people.journal articl