Online symposium: Saturday, 29 November 2025
17:00-19:00 (JST – Tokyo)
09:00-11:00 (CET – Amsterdam)
This online lecture event is held in conjunction with the current exhibition in Tokyo and will unveil the findings of a major collaborative survey on two related early sixteenth-century panel paintings from the Southern Low Countries: one held by the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (Scenes from the Life of St. James the Great) and the other by the Groeningemuseum, Bruges (Scenes from the Life of Saint James and Saint John).
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- Anonymous (Bruges), Scenes from the Life of St. James the Great ca. 1525 National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
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- Anonymous (Bruges), Scenes from the Life of Saint James and Saint John 1525 Musea Brugge
It is suggested that these panels once belonged to the same large altarpiece or ensemble. Through a joint effort between the two museums and other researchers, comprehensive art historical and natural scientific analyses have been carried out. Four speakers will introduce the outcomes of this significant research across four topics.
Speakers
Suzanne Laemers (Curator of Early Netherlandish Painting, RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History)
Two Panels Dedicated to Saint James the Great: Iconography and Provenance
Presentation in English (with simultaneous interpretation into Japanese)
Anna Koopstra (Curator of Early Netherlandish Painting, Musea Brugge)
Scenes from the Life of Saint James and Saint John: Materials, Techniques and Artistic Context
Presentation in English (with simultaneous interpretation into Japanese)
Asuka Nakada (Curator, the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo)
Two Panels from a Cycle of the Life of Saint James: Possible Reconstructions of the Cycle’s Narrative and Physical Structures
Presentation in Japanese (with simultaneous interpretation into English)
Miho Takashima (Conservation Scientist, the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo)
Scientific Examination of Two Panel Paintings from the Life of Saint James: Materials, Techniques, and Painting Process
Presentation in Japanese (with simultaneous interpretation into English)
Registration
This online event is free of charge and will be held via Zoom. The capacity is capped at 500 participants, and registrations will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Advance registration is mandatory. You may register from 12:00 p.m. on 13 November 2025, until 10:00 a.m. on 28 November (the day before the event). Please note that all times are in Japan Time (JST).
To register, visit the event page on the NMWA website and click the ‘Application Form’ button.