European

The Christian faith was first introduced into Japan in the sixteenth century by Jesuit and later by Franciscan missionaries. By the end of that century, there were probably about 300,000 baptized believers in Japan. This strong beginning met reverses though, brought about by rivalries between different groups of missionaries and political intrigues by the Spanish [...]

Rembrandt van Rijn is generally considered one of the finest painters and printmakers in Europe and the most important in Dutch History. He is most remembered for his intimate self-portraits and biblical scenes. Although there are prints from nearly every year of Rembrandt’s artistic career, this etching was likely created in the 1630s when he [...]

Lazarus is the subject of a prominent miracle in the life of Jesus from the gospel of John. Lazarus was said to be a follower of Jesus who lived in the town of Bethany, near Jerusalem. When Jesus arrives in Bethany, he finds that Lazarus is dead and has already been in his tomb for [...]

This print depicts the story of Mordecai, a main figure in the book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. Here Rembrandt has shown Persia’s celebration of Mordecai’s victory over Haman. Haman was a vindictive court official. After Mordecai refused to prostrate himself before Haman, Haman decided to murder every Jewish exile as punishment. When Mordecai [...]

Rembrandt is better known for his paintings, but throughout his artistic career he created hundreds of prints. Often he would use the same imagery in his prints as in his paintings; like in this piece. Sometimes called “Rembrandt’s Mill” for an endearing legend about Rembrandt’s birth, The Windmill is an etched print. Rembrandt was the [...]

Christ Preaching exhibits Rembrandt’s willingness to experiment with different printmaking techniques later in his artistic career. He moved away from his earlier method of exclusively using a copper etching technique and has introduced engraving and drypoint intaglio methods. The strong lines of etching can be augmented with the precision of engraving and fluidity of drypoint [...]

Similar to his fascination with self-portraits, Rembrandt created many versions of the 13th Station of the Cross: Christ’s descent from the cross. This etching is a direct copy of his painting of the scene done in the same year at the request of Prince Frederick Henry of Orange. Also called the Deposition of Christ, the [...]

Roman coinage has existed about as long as Rome. Even emperors whose reigns did not last long often minted one or two coins in their image. Hadrian was Emperor of Rome between 117-138 C.E. The Roman Empire at that time was huge, and Hadrian halted outward expansion of the borders.  As Roman Emperor, Hadrian was [...]

Born in Tokyo, Japan to the man considered the “Father of British studio pottery”, David Leach is an English Ceramicist. The father’s and son’s pottery share many common themes but David Leach has partially departed from his father. Leach’s father was known for his thick, bold, rough, opaque pottery with little color difference between body [...]

Uranium has been found in glass in trace amounts from as early as 79 CE--the date of a mosaic in a Roman Villa where uranium oxide was found at a 1% concentration. In the nineteenth century, uranium was a regular ingredient in much decorative glass, partially because it was inexpensive, and it added a vibrant [...]