Western Genre Scenes Screen (one of a pair of screen paintings)

This is one of a pair of screens painted with European perspective and volumetric representation. They seem to be Western paintings as if they were painted with oil colors. However, they were 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. They might have been given by Jesuit leaders to major daimyos (feudal lords), because this kind of screen paintings were often found as properties inherited in the descendants of the daimyos. This pair of screen paintings are considerably smaller than Japanese regular six-folded screens. This fact might indicate that they were dedicated to a noble woman. They have a legend that they were inherited in the Nambu clan, one of daimyos ruling the northern area of Japan.