Nanban folding screen

Japanese: 南蛮屛風 - なんばんびょうぶ

These folding screens were painted in Japan between the late 16th century and the mid-17th century, and their theme was the arrival of the Nanban people (Portuguese and Spanish) in Japan at that time. In terms of cultural history, they play a part in Nanban art, but in terms of art history, they belong to the genre paintings of the early modern period that developed mainly in the Momoyama period. Most of them are six-panel folding screens, and their composition can be roughly divided into three types. (1) The left panel shows the scene of a Nanban ship entering port and unloading its cargo, and the right panel shows the captain and his procession to the Nanban temple (Christian church), the priests welcoming them, and the Japanese people looking curiously at the Westerners' party; (2) The designs of the above two panels are combined on the right panel, and the left panel shows a Nanban ship leaving port with a foreign city in the background; (3) The right panel has the same design as (2), and the left panel shows the customs of the Nanban people in a foreign country.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

16世紀末期～17世紀中葉の日本で描かれた屛風絵で，当時の南蛮人(ポルトガル人，スペイン人)来日のありさまを主題としたもの。文化史の上では南蛮美術の一翼をになうが，美術史の上では桃山時代を中心として展開した近世初期風俗画に属する。多くは六曲一双の屛風絵で，その構成は，ほぼつぎの3種に大別される。(1)向かって(以下同様)左隻に南蛮船の入港と荷揚げの情景を表し，右隻に船長以下の南蛮寺(キリスト教会)への行進，それを迎える神父たち，西洋人一行を珍しそうに眺める日本人などを描くもの，(2)上記の両隻の図様を右隻にまとめ，左隻には異国の市街を背景にした港を出る南蛮船を表すもの，(3)右隻の図様は(2)と同様で，左隻には異国における南蛮人風俗を描くもの，である。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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