Bulletin of the Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum, 2(2007)
Summarypp. 1-8
An Empty Alteration: Comparison of Ishii Hakutei's War Record Painting "FlagshipIzumo" with its Esquisse Painting
SAWADA, Keizo (Curator, The Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum)This article focuses on the comparison of Ishii Hakutei's war record painting FlagshipIzumo and its esquisse painting. Between the esquisse and the completed work, astrange alteration can be seen. In the esquisse, we can see a flagship which quietly
floats on the harbor in Shanghai with no sign of war. However, in the completed work
the flagship is put into a battle condition; shellfire and smoke from an artillery attack
are added to it.
Ishii Hakutei went to Shanghai to gather information at the request of the Departmentof the Navy and made the esquisse. After returning home, he painted the war record
painting based of the esquisse. Shanghai was then in a state of peace, not war. Ishii
painted an imaginary battle on the canvas, in effect an empty alteration.
During the war period of the Showa era many painters were made to paint war record
paintings at.the request of the Department of the Army or the Navy without everhaving actually seen a battle scene. The alteration between Ishii Hakuteis war record
painting and its esquisse tells this story.

pp. 9-31
Some Problems on Khludov Psalter (State Historical Museum, Moscow, Cod. gr. 129d)
KO, Seong-Jun (Assistant Curator, The Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum)
Khludov Psalter (State Historical Museum, Moscow, Cod. gr. 129d) is one of the oldest

marginal Byzantine Psalters in existence. Its historical importance and iconographicalinterest have attracted many great Byzantinists from the latter half of the 19th century
such as Fl. Buslaev, N.P. Kondakov, A. Grabar, and S. Dufrenne, provoking many
controversies about its date and location of creation.
In the former part of the article, the author references previous studies to criticize therecent tendency of study on Byzantine manuscript illustrations (L. Brubaker, 1989; K.
Corrigan, 1992), in which the illustrations are considered a mere "sign" to provoke
devotion of 9th century contemporaries. From the view point of taking account ofstudies of artistic and stylistic characteristics, the author, reviewing Shchepkina's study(MV. Shchepkina, 1977), points out that the creator of Khludov Psalter, through thepreviously mentioned method of juxtaposition, skillfully used marginal space todistribute each illustration in a gentle and complementary relationship. As for theproblem of retouching, which is mentioned to have been done in the 14th century, theauthor reads it as logical matter and recognizes a positive meaning, for the essential
characteristic of the illustrations is highly exegetic and to be added or altered ifnecessary.
The latter part of the article is devoted to a study on illustrations of Ode (Canticum)
that is usually added as an appendix to Psalters. Reviewing antecedent studies on Odeillustrations of Byzantine Psalters (S. der Nersessian, 1970; K. Weitzmann, 1976; Ch.
Walter, 1990), the author points out that the creator of Khludov Psalter altered theformer iconographical tradition deliberately, and created a new representation that isappropriate for Ode illustration. But, contrary to illustrations of 10th century
aristocratic Psalters or 11th century marginal Psalter's Ode illustration in which thedecisive "Prayer Theme" is included, the method of alternation of Khludov Psalter ishighly suggestive and symbolical. By researching how Ode is read and sung by theByzantines as well as observing the illustrations in detail, the author demonstrates thatsuch suggestive and symbolical representations have a contemporary theologicalbackground, and points out the illustration of Khludov Psalter represents prayers toGod in a highly sophisticated method.