Kanō Sanraku

Japanese: 狩野山楽 - かのう・さんらく

Year of death: August 19, 1635 (September 30, 1635)
Year of birth: 1559
A painter from the Momoyama and early Edo periods. His father's name was Kimura Eimitsu, who first served Azai Nagamasa and later became a personal attendant for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Sanraku became Hideyoshi's page as a result of this relationship, but his talent for painting was recognized, and he was recommended by Hideyoshi to become a pupil of Kano Eitoku. Eventually, his teacher recognized his talent and character, and he was adopted by Eitoku and was pardoned by the Kano family name. In 1588 (Tensho 16) Eitoku was ordered by Hideyoshi to restore the ceiling painting in the Tofukuji Temple lecture hall, but he fell ill midway through the work, and Sanraku completed it. This huge "Ceiling Painting of a Dragon" instantly raised Sanraku's reputation as an artist, but it was burned in 1881 (Meiji 14) and no longer exists. Two years after the creation of this ceiling painting, Eitoku passed away, and Sanraku, who was 32 at the time, led the Kano school as his teacher's best successor in both name and reality. He was highly valued by Hideyoshi and traveled back and forth between Osaka and Kyoto. He is said to have created the wall paintings for Fushimi Castle, which Hideyoshi built in 1594, and again in 1597 when the castle was rebuilt on Kowatayama. In 1596, he painted the mural of Prince Shotoku at Shitennoji Temple in Osaka, which Hideyoshi had restored, and in 1597, he participated in the creation of the wall paintings for the Senjojiki Great Hall in Osaka Castle, which Toyotomi Hideyori had built. The twenty-odd years he spent in service to the Toyotomi clan were the heyday of Sanraku, who was active in the temples and castles of Kyoto and Osaka. In 1615, when the Toyotomi clan was destroyed and Osaka Castle fell, Sanraku escaped Osaka and took refuge with Shokado Shojo, a priest at Otokoyama Hachimangu Shrine near Kyoto. Shojo, a pupil of Sanraku, appealed for a pardon from the Tokugawa Shogunate, emphasizing that Sanraku was not a warrior of the Toyotomi clan, but an artist. Eventually, thanks to Shojo's efforts, Sanraku was pardoned by the Shogunate and was able to return to Kyoto. In the last 20 years of his life in Kyoto, he continued to work as a leading figure in the art world, receiving orders from the Shogunate, especially from the second Shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada. All of his descendants have lived in Kyoto ever since, and so Sanraku's lineage is known as Kyoto Kano, in contrast to the Edo Kano lineage of Tan'yū. In 1616, at Hidetada's command, Sanraku created murals for the east and west towers of the Jingūji temple at Sumiyoshisha Shrine in Osaka, which Hidetada had rebuilt. In 1617, Hidetada also restored Shitennoji Temple in Osaka, which had been destroyed by fire, and Sanraku was ordered to create the murals depicting Prince Shotoku. He also created the partition wall paintings for the inner citadel of Osaka Castle, which was rebuilt by the third Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, together with Kano Tan'yū and Naonobu. Sanraku inherited Eitoku's powerful organic composition, but introduced gentle sentiments, completing a dignified late Momoyama style that combined realism with decorativeness. Representative works include the "Peony" and "Pine and Eagle" screen paintings in the Shinden and Seishinden rooms of Daikakuji Temple, the "Cart Fighting Screen" (Tokyo National Museum collection), the "Horns and Birds Screen" (Nishimura family collection), the screen paintings at Shodenji Temple in Kyoto, and the screen paintings at Tenkyuin Temple in Myoshinji Temple (around 1631), which are thought to have been created in collaboration with Kano Sansetsu. His eldest son Mitsunori was also a painter, but he died young and was succeeded by his daughter-in-law Sansetsu. He died at the age of 77 and was buried at Sennyuji Temple in Kyoto. References: Kawamoto Keiko, "New Compilation of Treasures of Japanese Art 21/Yusho and Sanraku," Doi Tsugiyoshi, "Complete Collection of Japanese Art Paintings 12/Kano Sanraku and Sansetsu."

(Motoaki Kono)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：寛永12.8.19(1635.9.30)
生年：永禄2(1559)
桃山・江戸初期の画家。父の名は木村永光といい,はじめ浅井長政に仕え,のちに豊臣秀吉の近侍となった。山楽はその関係で秀吉の小姓となったが,画才を認められて,秀吉の推挙で狩野永徳の弟子となった。やがてその天分と人柄は師の認めるところとなり,永徳の養子となり,狩野氏を許された。天正16(1588)年秀吉の命によって永徳は東福寺法堂の天井画修復に当たったが,途中病にたおれ,山楽がこれを完成した。この巨大な「蟠竜図天井画」は一躍山楽の画名を高めたが,明治14(1881)年に焼失して今はない。この天井画の制作の2年後,永徳が亡くなり,当時32歳であった山楽は,名実ともに師の最もよき後継者として狩野派をひきいていく。秀吉に重用され,大坂と京都を往き来して活躍,文禄3(1594)年秀吉が築いた伏見城の障壁画を制作し,慶長2(1597)年木幡山に再建された伏見城の障壁画制作にも当たったと伝えられる。同5年秀吉が復興した大坂四天王寺に「聖徳太子絵伝壁画」を描き,また同9年豊臣秀頼が造った大坂城の千畳敷大広間の障壁画制作にも参加した。このように豊臣家に仕えた二十数年の間は,京都・大坂の寺院城郭を舞台に華々しく活躍した山楽の最盛期であった。元和1(1615)年豊臣家が滅亡,大坂城落城とともに大坂を脱出した山楽は,京都に近い男山八幡宮の社僧松花堂昭乗のもとに身を隠した。山楽の絵の弟子であった昭乗は,徳川幕府に山楽が豊臣家の武人ではなく,絵師であったことを強調して恩赦を嘆願,やがて昭乗の尽力が実り,幕府に許されて,京都に帰ることができた。京都に定住した晩年の20年は,幕府,特に2代将軍徳川秀忠の用命を受け,画壇の重鎮としての制作活動を続けた。その子孫は以後代々皆京都に住んだので,山楽の系統は探幽系の江戸狩野に対して京狩野と呼ばれている。元和4年秀忠の命で,秀忠の再興した大坂住吉社の神宮寺の東西両塔の壁画を制作した。また同9年やはり秀忠が兵火で焼失した大坂四天王寺を復興して,その「聖徳太子絵伝壁画」の制作を再び山楽に命じた。また3代将軍徳川家光が再建した大坂城本丸の障壁画を狩野探幽,尚信らと共に制作した。山楽は永徳の力強い有機的構図を受け継ぎながら,温和な情趣を導き入れ,写実性と装飾性を合わせ持った堂々たる後期桃山様式を完成させた。代表作に大覚寺宸殿・正寝殿の「牡丹図」「松鷹図」などの障壁画,「車争図屏風」(東京国立博物館蔵),「鷙鳥図屏風」(西村家蔵),京都正伝寺障壁画,狩野山雪との共同制作とされる妙心寺天球院障壁画(1631頃)などがある。長男光教も画家であったが早世し,娘婿の山雪が後を継いだ。77歳で没し,京都の泉涌寺に葬られた。<参考文献>川本桂子『新編名宝日本の美術21/友松・山楽』,土居次義『日本美術絵画全集12/狩野山楽・山雪』

(河野元昭)

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