Fragment of Namban Screen with representation of Amakusa Shiro (1620-1638)
17th century
So-called Nanban screens illustrated encounters between Europeans and Japanese, often through images of foreign merchants and missionaries. A common motif was the Portuguese nao do trato, an imposing black ship that traveled between Lisbon, Goa, Macao, and Nagasaki. This small piece from a larger screen shows Amakusa Shiro (1620–1638), a Japanese Christian of the Edo period, who led the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Japanese Roman Catholics against the Shogunate. He is shown here as a young man wearing a Japanese robe but with an upright European collar and holding a cross, sword, and musket. In today’s popular culture, he appears in film, manga, anime, and video games as a symbol of youthful rebellion.
Ink and gold leaf
Image (Painting only): 26 9/16 × 8 11/16 in. (67.4 × 22 cm)
Overall: 36 1/4 × 16 1/4 in. (92 × 41.3 cm)
Mrs. Thomas D. Stimson Memorial
63.151
