Online lecture: Riikka Lenkkeri

12.02.2026

16.15—17.30

Teams

Luecture free of charge

Enter the lecture in Teams on 12 Feb at 4:15 pm here

At Rembrandt’s studio as a master’s apprentice

Artist Riikka Lenkkeri, who is familiar with old techniques, introduces the secrets of 17th-century oil painting through the work of Gerbrandt van den Eeckhout (1621–1674). Eeckhout, who was born in Amsterdam, was a student of Rembrandt in 1635–40.

Eeckhout’s painting Abraham Meeting Melchizedek (1648) is an iconic work in Serlachius’ collection of old art, and from early February on display at Serlachius Manor after a multi-year conservation and research project. The sky in the painting has been damaged over the years and its original tone has changed. Respecting the old methods, Lenkkeri has painted a strip of painting of the sky as it may have originally been. The lecture is given in Finnish language.

Artist Riikka Lenkkeri graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Genoa (L’Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti) in 1995. Her work reflects her knowledge of European painting: she became acquainted with old painting techniques and especially the Italian painting tradition already during her studies. Lenkkeri has a 30-year career as an artist, and her works can be found in several public and private collections.

The Encrypted Language of Images – Lecture Series
– Symbols and Stories in 15th Through 17th century art

The Encrypted Language of Images is a series of five free online lectures organised by Serlachius and the University of Jyväskylä in cooperation. The addresses by art history experts are aimed at everyone interested in viewing images and their history. The lecture series focuses on art from the 15th and 17th centuries. 

The presentations shed light on what kind of symbols and allegories art has used or what the details of the paintings tell us about the thinking and culture of the era. We also get a glimpse of how colours were mixed in Rembrandt’s time.

A special area of strength of the Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation’s collection is its collection of old European art, which is significant and rare in Finland. It contains about a hundred works from the 1500s and 1700s. The collection includes Dutch, Flemish, Italian and Spanish art.