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Midori Wakakuwa

わかくわ みどり

Wakakuwa Midori

Aliases: 山本（旧姓）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1935-11-10 （Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2007-10-03 （Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan） age 71
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Religion
Catholicism
Residence History
Tokyo, Japan → Rome, Italy → Chiba Prefecture (worked at Chiba University) → Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

Career

Occupations
Art historian, University professor, Translator, Researcher
Active Years
1958-2007
Affiliations
Tokyo University of the Arts, Chiba University, Kawamura Gakuen Women's University
Influenced By
Erwin Panofsky, Caravaggio
Influenced
Chizuko Ueno

Education

Tokyo University of the Arts
Faculty of Fine Arts / Department of Fine Arts
Degree: 学士
Period: 1954-1958
Year of Graduation: 1958
Country: Japan
Undergraduate graduation, Faculty of Fine Arts
Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate Course in Arts Studies
Graduate Course in Arts Studies / Arts Studies
Degree: 修了
Period: 1958-1960
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: Japan
Completed the graduate course in arts studies
Sapienza University of Rome
Period: 1961-1963
Year of Graduation: 1963
Country: Italy
Italian government scholarship student

Awards

Suntory Prize
1980
Work: "Allegory and Symbolic Female Images" (work centered in the collected volume 'Nudes in Art', vol.7)
Organization: Suntory Foundation
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education)
1985
Work: The Iconology of the Rose
Organization: Art Encouragement Prize
Result: 受賞
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Cavaliere)
1996
Organization: Italian Republic
Result: 叙勲
Medal with Purple Ribbon
2003
Organization: Japanese government
Result: 受章
Ōfusa Jirō Prize
2004
Work: Quattro Ragazzi (Quattro Ragazzi — on the Tenshō embassy)
Organization: Ofusa Jirō Prize Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Theory of Mannerism

1980 Art history

An iconological study of Mannerist art that helped establish Mannerism studies in Japan.

MannerismIconologyRenaissance

The Iconology of the Rose

1984 Art history / iconography

A study examining the symbolism and imagery of the rose from historical and cultural perspectives.

SymbolismPlant imageryReligious representation

The Painting of Light: Iconographic Study of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling

1993 Art history / iconographic interpretation

A detailed iconographic analysis of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling paintings.

MichelangeloSistine ChapelIconographic interpretationLight and color
Adaptations
  • [Television] Reviving Michelangelo: The Sistine Chapel (1987)

Images of Women Produced by War: Visual Propaganda of Women's Mobilization in WWII Japan

1995 Visual culture history / gender studies

An analysis of images of women and propaganda during WWII in Japan from the viewpoint of visual culture.

War and propagandaImages of womenGender

Quattro Ragazzi: The Tenshō Embassy and World Empires

2003 Historical essay / cultural history

A cultural-historical account of the Tenshō embassy, examining early modern Japan's encounters with the world.

Embassies to EuropeCultural exchangeEarly modern history

Bibliography

  • Theory of Mannerism
  • The Iconology of the Rose
  • Biographies of Women Painters
  • Let It Be
  • The Iconology of Wind
  • The Iconology of the City
  • Käthe Kollwitz
  • Reading Paintings: An Introduction to Iconology
  • Reading Images: An Introduction to Art History
  • The Painting of Light: Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling (Iconographic Study)
  • Florence
  • Images of Women Produced by War (WWII Japan)
  • Iwanami Modern Japanese Art (2): Hidden Gazes — Female Nudes in Ukiyo-e and Western Painting
  • The Woman as Symbol: Representations of Women in Patriarchal Society from a Gender History Perspective
  • History of Images
  • Portraits of the Empress: Representation of Empress Shoken and the Nationalization of Women
  • Princesses and Gender: Learning Gender through Anime (Introduction)
  • Quattro Ragazzi: The Tenshō Embassy and World Empires
  • War and Gender: Male Alliances That Wage War and Gender Theories That Create Peace
  • The Arrival of the Madonna Image

Adaptations

  • Reviving Michelangelo: The Sistine Chapel (Nippon TV, supervised by Midori Wakakuwa, 1987)

Translations by Author

  • Arnold Hauser, 'Mannerism: The Crisis of the Renaissance and the Origins of Modern Art' (translation)
  • Renata Negri, 'Contemporary Painting (8): Bonnard and the Nabis' (translation)
  • D. Ledyg(?), 'Michelangelo's Last Judgment' (translation)
  • Pierre du Colombier, 'Michelangelo' (translation)
  • Mario Praz, 'The Garden of Sensuality — Mannerism, Emblems, Baroque' (co-translation)
  • Erwin Panofsky, 'Tomb Sculpture: The Modes of the Spirit Facing Death' (translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly analysis based on iconologyAccessible prose incorporating feminist perspectives
Recurring Motifs
Representation of womenLight and colorWar and propagandaRenaissance and Mannerism

Health

  • Ischemic heart failure
    2007年10月
    Died at home on October 3, 2007 (age 71)

Legacy

Midori Wakakuwa contributed to the introduction and development of Mannerism studies in Japan and was a leading scholar of gender studies in visual culture. Through academic works, translations, and public-facing writings and teaching, she left a broad influence.

Archives

  • Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties archive (materials related to Midori Wakakuwa)

Trivia

  • Her maiden name was Yamamoto.
  • Her funeral was held at the Catholic Setagaya Church in Setagaya.
  • Her eldest son is the musician Hiori Wakakuwa (no dedicated page).
  • She supported Shiro Asano's campaign in the 2007 Tokyo gubernatorial election.