European Courtiers

This screen was painted with European perspective and volumetric representation. It seems to be Western paintings as if it were painted with oil colors. However, it was painted with Japanese traditional pigments. The painter is presumed to be Japanese painters in "Seminario", schools of the Society of Jesus in Nagasaki in the early 17th century. It was inherited in the Nishimura family until the Meiji or the Taisho era. Its ancestor was Nishimura Jirouemon, who served Matsudaira Nobutsuna in the early 17th century. Nobutsuna was the commander-in-chief of the Shogunate military in the battle over the Hara castle. There is a legend this screen painting was in the Hara castle, and Nishimura Jirouemon took it out from this castle in the battle.