Namban folding screens

These important historical and artistic documents about the relationship between Portugal and Japan depict the arrival of the Portuguese vessels in the port of Nagasaki.
Designed to divide spaces into separate compartments, screens were generally made in pairs, consisting of a variable number of hinged leaves, covered with paper and enclosed within a thin lacquer frame.
The arrival of the Portuguese in Japan in 1543 gave rise to commercial and cultural exchanges that were recorded in these two pairs of screens: the curiosity and festive atmosphere aroused by the arrival of the black ship of the namban jin (the barbarians from the south, as the Portuguese were called) in the port of Nagasaki.
The great detail with which the various participants in the scene are depicted, the description of the vessel and its valuable cargo, and the presence of the Jesuit missionaries which is so crucial in this context, make these pieces a unique historical and visual document about the relations between Portugal and Japan.