Chinese and European Ships

This pair of folding screens, a newly discovered masterpiece, both conforms to and deviates from the established imagery of early Europeans in Japan. The right screen features typical scenes of this Japanese genre, known as nanban: a black European ship docked at a Japanese port and a captain-major taking his crew to church. However, the left one is unusual in showing a white ship docking at a Chinese port town. Even the finest motifs were painted with great care while maintaining an overall balance, highlighting the artist’s skill. These screens were probably created between 1596 and 1614 by a direct successor to the Kanō school of painting, making Kanō Takanobu (1571–1618) the most likely creator of this set.

— Museum description: Kyushu National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.