Blue in the Hills. Iris, Mt Nabekanmuri, Nagasaki, Japan
Each of the three Great Western Naturalists who worked in the Dutch Trading Post of Nagasaki, Dejima, is associated with the study of Japanese Irises: Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716), Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828) and Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866). But the name and the paintings that stick most in our minds in this connection are those of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). His famous painting - inspired by the history of Japanese wood-block prints of the Iris - fetched many millions of euros on a sale some time ago. So I can hardly leave Japan without an Iris Picture. Which one this is exactly I don't know. It was growing wild on Mt Nabekanmuri just opposite the hills on the inset-miniature painting by Kawahira Keiga (1786-1861). It could be an Ayame, a Japanese Blood-Iris. Then again it may have escaped from a Westerner's garden...
The inset by Keiga shows Von Siebold and his family - his Japanese wife Taki with the still young Ine (see my previous posting). They are standing on the viewing platform - which you can still see today - above the roof of one of the houses of Dejima, the Dutch trading-post island. Through a telescope Von Siebold is looking at the rare sight of a Dutch ship coming in to Nagasaki's harbor. Perhaps the ship that will soon take him home. He will not return to Nagasaki for thirty years. In Europe he will raise another family, but he remains in contact with his Japanese wife and daughter. The latter will become the first Japanese female obstetrician working along Western methods...
Ah! Fascinating stories. But I too must be on my way!
Blue in the Hills. Iris, Mt Nabekanmuri, Nagasaki, Japan
Each of the three Great Western Naturalists who worked in the Dutch Trading Post of Nagasaki, Dejima, is associated with the study of Japanese Irises: Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716), Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828) and Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866). But the name and the paintings that stick most in our minds in this connection are those of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). His famous painting - inspired by the history of Japanese wood-block prints of the Iris - fetched many millions of euros on a sale some time ago. So I can hardly leave Japan without an Iris Picture. Which one this is exactly I don't know. It was growing wild on Mt Nabekanmuri just opposite the hills on the inset-miniature painting by Kawahira Keiga (1786-1861). It could be an Ayame, a Japanese Blood-Iris. Then again it may have escaped from a Westerner's garden...
The inset by Keiga shows Von Siebold and his family - his Japanese wife Taki with the still young Ine (see my previous posting). They are standing on the viewing platform - which you can still see today - above the roof of one of the houses of Dejima, the Dutch trading-post island. Through a telescope Von Siebold is looking at the rare sight of a Dutch ship coming in to Nagasaki's harbor. Perhaps the ship that will soon take him home. He will not return to Nagasaki for thirty years. In Europe he will raise another family, but he remains in contact with his Japanese wife and daughter. The latter will become the first Japanese female obstetrician working along Western methods...
Ah! Fascinating stories. But I too must be on my way!