Process of Making Ceramics | Ryo Mikami (Professor, Ceramics, Department of Crafts, School of Fine Arts Tokyo University of the Arts)
On Air
Subject | Architecture & Art
The Spectacle of Still Life――Viewers, Materiality, and Transgression: Rembrandt and Vermeer in Focus
- Netherlandish Art
- Rembrandt van Rijn
- Johannes Vermeer
- Still Life Painting
- Historical Painting
In this course, we will focus on Rembrandt and Vermeer, using “still life” as our key concept. Generally, “still life” is understood to refer to paintings depicting flowers, fruits, and the like; however, the term “still life” as used here has a broader meaning. We will consider not only works where still life is the primary subject, but also any subject—whether people or objects—depicted in a decorative manner as “still life.” From this perspective, we will explore the worlds of Rembrandt and Vermeer. In a sense, we will temporarily set aside the genre-based view established by 17th-century classicism—which places “history painting” at the highest rank and “still life” at the lowest—and highlight the fact that the people and objects depicted in their paintings were rendered not as religious or allegorical symbols, but because the artists were captivated by the subjects themselves. To put it another way, the attitude of perceiving objects not conceptually but sensually can itself be described as a religious experience that views the earth as the world of God. At the same time, it marked the birth of a new sense of reality.
©Tohoku University. Last Update
2026-08-06
Content／学習内容
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In Week 1, we will examine how the birth of “still life”—which focuses on objects—did not arise solely from a growing secular trend, but emerged within the interplay of opposing vectors between the sacred and the secular. What kind of drama unfolded there?
- 1-0. Introduction
- 1-1. “The Birth of Painting” and “Still Life”
- 1-2. The Description of Objects across Genres
- 1-3-1. The Novelty of the van Eyck Brothers' “Ghent Altarpiece”, Part 1
- 1-3-2. The Novelty of the van Eyck Brothers' “Ghent Altarpiece”, Part 2
- 1-4. The Birth of “Still Life”
- 1-5. “Study of Hermit Crab and Witchcraft”, Part 1
- 1-6. “Study of Hermit Crab and Witchcraft”, Part 2
- 1-7. Allegory and Depiction in “Vanitas (The Vanity of Life)”, Part 1
- 1-8. Allegory and Depiction in “Vanitas (The Vanity of Life)”, Part 2
- 1-9-1. Paradoxical Paintings, Part 1
- 1-9-2. Paradoxical Paintings, Part 2
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In Week 2, we will focus primarily on Rembrandt’s etchings.
In particular, we will examine works in which multiple figures are depicted within a single etching, as if they were studies, to identify a new approach to artistic production that resonates with still life painting. We will explore who Rembrandt truly was—a figure who pioneered the new realm of the etching as compelling merchandise rivaling painting and revealed a new facet of himself as a Painter-Printmaker.- 2-0. Introduction
- 2-1. Rembrandt's Gaze Directed at "the Grouping of Heads"
- 2-2. Disappearance of Hierarchies for All Subjects
- 2-3-1. Collectors of Still-Life Etchings, Part 1
- 2-3-2. Collectors of Still-Life Etchings, Part 2
- 2-4. Rembrandt and the Print Collectors
- 2-5. What Is Unfinished in Art?
- 2-6. Pygmalion
- 2-7. The Role of White Space in Rembrandt’s Etchings
- 2-8. Rembrandt’s Artistic Strategy, Part 1
- 2-9. Rembrandt’s Artistic Strategy, Part 2
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In Week 3, we will contemplate Rembrandt and “Asia” while observing the delicate world woven from monochrome tones found in his etchings. We will reveal that Rembrandt’s black backgrounds reflect not merely the monochrome nature of etching, but the underlying European concept of “melancholy” that has flowed through European culture since ancient Greece.
- 3-0. Introduction
- 3-1. Gaze toward the East
- 3-2. The Ottoman Empire and the Netherlands, Part 1
- 3-3. The Ottoman Empire and the Netherlands, Part 2
- 3-4. Study of Mughal Miniatures, Part 1
- 3-5-1. Study of Mughal Miniatures, Part 2a
- 3-5-2. Study of Mughal Miniatures, Part 2b
- 3-6. Rembrandt and Washi, Part 1
- 3-7. Rembrandt and Washi, Part 2
- 3-8. The Depths of Black
- 3-9. The Aesthetics of Black
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In Week 4, we will examine the new sensibility expressed by Vermeer in the 17th century—an era of globalization—by focusing on the “white” that appears in his works. We will explore how Vermeer’s art, as manifested through white, was a product of the encounter between Europe and Asia, and also marked the dawn of a new artistic creation.
- 4-0. Introduction
- 4-1. Encounters between the Netherlands and Asia
- 4-2. White Gleam – Birth of a New Aesthetic, Part 1
- 4-3-1. White Gleam – Birth of a New Aesthetic, Part 2a
- 4-3-2. White Gleam – Birth of a New Aesthetic, Part 2b
- 4-4. Vermeer and Chinese Porcelain, Part 1
- 4-5-1. Vermeer and Chinese Porcelain, Part 2a
- 4-5-2. Vermeer and Chinese Porcelain, Part 2b
- 4-6. Vermeer and Chinese Porcelain, Part 3
- 4-7. Willem Kalf and Chinese Porcelain
- 4-8. The Birth of a New Sensibility through Still Life
Staff／スタッフ
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- Teacher
Akihiro OzakiTohoku UniversityEmeritus Professor
Contact／お問合せ先
Center for the Advancement of Open Online Education, Tohoku University
Email: secretary.mooc@grp.tohoku.ac.jp
