Namban

RESUMO
O estudo das insígnias quinhentistas e seiscentistas de Comendadores das Ordens Militares portuguesas preservadas no espólio da Casa de Lafões, permitiu um olhar inédito sobre três conjuntos descritos em inventários oitocentistas como provenientes da Casa de Sousa (Arronches). No primeiro conjunto são mencionadas algumas insígnias ditas do Oriente, com estilos de fabrico de rara beleza iconográfica. No segundo conjunto são apresentadas as insígnias que pertenceram ao capitão-mor de duas armadas da Índia, D. Jorge de Sousa (1560 e 1563). No terceiro conjunto, constituído por seis insígnias das várias Ordens Militares de fabrico português de cerca de 1640-1680, os versos dos pendentes apresentam gravações com figurações de inspiração Namban, identificadas em lacas japonesas de colecções portuguesas e num biombo de Kobe, de cerca de 1600.

ABSTRACT - Sixteenth and seventeenth century’s insignia of Knight Commanders of the three Portuguese Military Orders of Knighthood with Namban-inspired engravings.

The study of sixteenth and seventeenth century’s insignia of Knight Commanders of the three Portuguese Military Orders of Knighthood preserved in the collection of the Ducal House of Lafões allowed an unprecedented look at three sets of badges described in inventories of the same house as coming from the House of Sousa (Arronches). In the first set are described badges said to be from the Orient, with rare Eastern manufacturing styles. The second set presents the insignia that belonged to the Captain-General of two armed fleets to India, Jorge de Sousa (in 1560 and in 1563). In the third set, consisting of six badges of the three Military Orders of Portuguese manufacture from about 1640-1680, the obverses feature engravings with Namban-inspired figurations, which were identified in Japanese lacquers from Portuguese collections and on a Kobe Museum screen, from about 1600

influencia o procedencia extranjera. Marcos A. Sala Ivars. Doctorando en Historia del Arte (III) por la UCM. Miembro del Grupo de Investigación Asia. Es mi intención concienciar a la comunidad universitaria y en concreto a los especialistas en arte japonés de la importancia del nihontō como obra y contenedor de arte. En esta ocasión voy a tratar con ejemplos específicos y de manera muy resumida una parte del kodōgu o pequeñas piezas de la montura del sable japonés. Debido a lo vasto del tema, he aprovechado este Año Dual Japón-España para concretar sobre piezas namban de manera que podamos hablar de este tema apasionante a la par que presento brevemente en escena cada una de las piezas a tratar. Con ello espero poder ofrecer una visión panorámica del estado en cuestión, así como despejar ciertas dudas sobre la utilización del término namban en este marco armamentístico en concreto. 1. El Nihontō como obra de arte. Hay muchas formas de nombrar al sable japonés, dependiendo de su tipología, tamaño… ken, tō, tachi, nōdachi, ōdachi, katanata, wakizashi, tantō, kaiken… sin embargo si hay una palabra para referirse a la generalidad de las hojas, especialmente sables, fabricadas en Japón ese término es Nihontō 日本刀. La evolución del nihontō (s. VIII-s. XIX).

Madrid Palabras clave: Nanban, tsuba, nihontô, guarda. Resumen: Las tsuba son las guardas de los sables japoneses o nihontô, estas piezas además de cumplir una función defensiva y de protección de las manos del guerrero es un "lienzo" susceptible a numerosas decoraciones y apreciaciones estéticas. Conservamos tsuba desde el Periodo Kofun (250-538), y su fabricación y perfeccionamiento se fue produciendo a lo largo de la historia japonesa siendo un trabajo secundario para forjadores de sables, constructores de armaduras y fabricantes de espejos. La creciente demanda de guardas personalizadas y con determinado tipo de forja y decoración produjo que hacia mediados-finales del Periodo Muromachi, (entre 1450 y 1570) hasta hoy en día, cientos de familias se especializaran en la producción de estas guardas, surgiendo la figura del tsubakô o artista de tsuba de los cuales conservamos miles de piezas y firmas de escuelas y artistas independientes. De entre estas escuelas o estilos hablaremos del llamado Nanban tsuba que acoge tanto guardas fabricadas en el extranjero como guardas japonesas que acogen en su decoración motivos occidentales. En cualquier caso estaremos trabajando con tsuba que reflejan las relaciones internacionales que tenía Japón especialmente durante el siglo XVI. Abstract: The tsuba are the guards of the japanese swords or Nihontô, these guards in addition to their defensive and protective function of the hands of the warrior is a "canvas " where numerous decorations and aesthetic appreciations can be in it. We have tsuba from the Kofun Period (250-538), manufacturing and processing was occurring throughout Japanese history to be a secondary job of creators of swords (tôshô), armor builders (katchushi) and manufacturers of mirrors (kagamishi). The growing demand for custom guards and forging certain type decoration that occurred in mid-late Muromachi period (between 1450 and 1570) until today, hundreds of families

Abstract: Traditionally, nanban art has been seen as a simple product of exchanges between Japan, Portugal and Spain. The historiography tends to solely focus on artistic contributions of the Society of Jesus due to the foundation of a painting school in Japan. Thereby, the relevance of the Indo-Portuguese route in the cross-cultural history has been emphasized. However, the research advances of the last decades identify that nanban works consist of artistic inheritances from diverse regions of the world which were connected through the Portuguese and Spanish transoceanic routes. Similarly, Japanese nanban art influenced the artistic productions on the other side of the world. In summary, nanban art cannot be understood without taking into account its global implications. This paper clarifies the changes in epistemological understanding of nanban art, and its redefinitions through a historiographical review. This work also shows the important role of Spanish America in the artistic exchange mechanisms; these interactions occurred reciprocally. Therefore, the New World was one of the regions where Japanese art significantly influenced local productions. To exemplify this phenomenon, we address the influence of nanban art on the mural painting The great martyrdom of Japan in 1597 in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.

Resumen: Tradicionalmente, el arte namban ha sido visto como un simple producto de intercambios entre Japón, Portugal y España. La historiografía tiende a centrarse únicamente en las contribuciones artísticas de la Compañía de Jesús por establecer una escuela de pintura en Japón. De este modo, se ha enfatizado la relevancia de la ruta indo-portuguesa en la historia intercultural. Sin embargo, los avances de investigacion en las ultimas décadas identifican que las obras namban se conforman de herencias artisticas de diversas regiones del mundo que estaban conectadas a traves de las rutas transoceanicas portuguesa y espanola. De igual modo, el arte namban japones influyo en las producciones artísticas del otro lado del mundo. En resumen, el arte namban no puede entenderse sin tener en cuenta sus implicaciones globales. Este articulo dilucida los cambios en la comprensión epistemologica del arte namban y sus redefiniciones mediante una revision historiografica. Tambien resalta la importancia de America hispanica en los mecanismos de intercambio artistico. Estas interacciones se dieron de manera mutua, ya que el Nuevo Mundo es una de las regiones donde el arte japones tuvo una influencia significativa en las producciones locales. Para ejemplificar este fenomeno, este trabajo aborda la influencia del arte namban en la pintura mural El gran martirio de Japon en 1597 en Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.

Eng:
In this paper make for the archeology class I talk about the influences of the portuguese in Japan and the japanese art.

Pt:
Neste trabalho realizado na disciplina de Arqueologia e património, realizo um estudo sobre as influências portuguesas no Japão e consequentemente na arte japonesa

Abstract  | Among the multiple influences and sources of inspiration that may have sparked the development of the art of Pasto varnish, this paper focuses particularly on those belonging to the Japanese export lacquer known as namban style (c.1580-c.1630). For that purpose, we analyze a Pasto varnish coffer featuring interesting iconographies and inscriptions, and we investigate the possible influences of Japanese lacquer and the erudite world of emblems and moralizing books —widely developed in Spain throughout the sixteenth and seventieth centuries— in the art of Pasto varnish. To complete the iconographic analysis, we examine images based on the Quechua culture, and more specifically, the Amaru serpent. A comparative method was used, since it allowed us to establish two types of parallels: on the one hand, to contrast the techniques and decorative motifs of the namban lacquer with the Pasto varnish; and on the other, to compare the inscriptions and images of the Pasto varnish with Spanish images and emblems dating back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The study highlights the fact that the Pasto varnish is representative of the great capacity of the American viceroyalties to absorb different cultures, thus demonstrating that —at the material level, in this case— they were a consequence of the fusion between European, Asian and Indigenous cultures that took place in the New World. We conclude that, in spite of the absence of documentary evidences of settlements of varnish artisans in the central Andes and of the styles cultivated there, the Pasto varnish coffer analyzed —bearing the image of Amaru— is as a significant proof that could lead to future in-depth research about the possible presence and elaboration of this mixed technique in the aforesaid region.

Resumen | Dentro de los múltiples influjos y fuentes de inspiración que pudieron existir para el desarrollo del arte del barniz de Pasto, este estudio se centra en identificar en él las huellas presentes del estilo namban, un tipo de laca japonesa de exportación (ca. 1580- ca. 1630). En esa medida, al analizar una arqueta de barniz de Pasto adornada con unas iconografías e inscripciones muy singulares, se indagan por los posibles influjos de la laca japonesa y del erudito mundo de los emblemas y libros moralizantes —desarrollados ampliamente en España durante los siglos XVI y XVII— en el arte del barniz de Pasto. Para completar el análisis iconográfico también se tuvieron en cuenta las imágenes basadas en la cultura quechua, en concreto, la de la serpiente Amaru. Tales averiguaciones se adelantaron mediante el método comparativo, ya que este permitió establecer dos tipos de paralelos: por un lado, contrastar las técnicas y motivos decorativos de la laca namban con los del barniz de Pasto; y por el otro, comparar las inscripciones e imágenes de este último con las imágenes y emblemas españoles de los siglos XVI y XVII. El estudio evidencia que el barniz de Pasto es representativo de la gran capacidad de los virreinatos americanos para absorber diferentes culturas, demostrando así que —a nivel material, en este caso— ellos fueron consecuencia de la fusión producida en el Nuevo Mundo entre la cultura europea, la asiática y la autóctona. El texto concluye que a pesar de la ausencia de evidencias documentales sobre los asentamientos de barnizadores en los Andes centrales y de los estilos cultivados allí, la arqueta analizada con la imagen de Amaru, se muestra como una prueba significativa para iniciar indagaciones a fondo sobre la posible presencia y elaboración de esta técnica mixta en dicha región.

Questa tesi si propone di illustrare le influenze che il Giappone subì, tra XVI e XVII secolo, a seguito dell’ingresso dei portoghesi e di altri europei nel paese. I portoghesi furono infatti i primi europei ad entrare in contatto col popolo nipponico in un momento in cui le due civiltà vantavano grossomodo lo stesso livello di sviluppo tecnologico e culturale. Furono soprattutto i missionari gesuiti ad operare nella terra del Sol Levante, portando avanti il loro tentativo di evangelizzazione che durerà quasi un secolo: un’eccezione nella storia delle relazioni tra Occidente e Giappone, in quanto nessun altro potrà godere di questo privilegio dal 1639 al 1854, periodo in cui il Giappone proibì l’ingresso di qualsiasi straniero al suo interno.
Per mostrare quali furono le influenze che seguirono a questo primo contatto, si partirà dando, nel I capitolo, una panoramica del contesto storico in cui portoghesi e missionari si ritrovarono ad operare, per passare poi ad un resoconto abbastanza dettagliato delle vicissitudini dei missionari in Giappone. Nel II capitolo verranno riportate le preziose testimonianze sul Giappone di Fernão Mendes Pinto, commerciante e avventuriero portoghese vissuto nel XVI secolo, il quale nella sua opera, la Peregrinação, dà uno spaccato molto vivido e interessante dei giapponesi e di alcune loro usanze. Infine, nell’ultimo capitolo verranno illustrati nel dettaglio tutti i campi in cui la cultura nipponica venne influenzata da quella portoghese/europea. Nello specifico, si vedrà quali furono le influenze passeggere e quali quelle che invece perdurarono nel tempo, rintracciando i principali canali di comunicazione tra le due culture. Infine, si cercherà di individuare le motivazioni per cui l’evangelizzazione del Giappone fallì.

The Portuguese India naus developed from Mediterranean round ships, which were adapted to the Atlantic conditions. Naus gradually grew in size over the course of the 16th century, especially those engaged in the lucrative Asian trade. Most historians believe that the Portuguese used this type of ship in the trade with Japan. Naus were generally three-masted vessels with three or four decks their size varied from 300 to 600 tons burden; the word ‘nau’ means ‘vessel.’ Naus were called Nao in Spanish, Carrack in English, and Carraca in Italian.

This 3D model of Portuguese nau was originally created as the final project of ANTH610: Outfitting and Sailing the Wooden Ship, 1400-1900 (Nautical Archaeology Program). Dimensions and rigging arrangements of the model are based on historical references and archaeological data.

Namban screens, a well-known Japanese art form, were painted by skillful Japanese artists from the late 16th century to the 17th centuries. Approximately 90 of these screens have been handed down up to the present. Not only they show some important historical scenes of European commercial activities in the Far East for the first time, but they also depict representational pictures of Portuguese ships during the Age of Discovery. Although the ships’ images on the screens are roughly acceptable, the details are often strangely anachronistic. The same images could be found in some Western maps in the 16th century. Judging from the similarity, perhaps, Japanese painters, who had never seen actual ships themselves in ports, did manage to copy the images from ones on those maps, which were brought to Japan by the wellknownTensho embassy. This was the first Japanese embassy that was sent to Europe; the diplomats left Japan in 1582 and arrived at Portugal in 1584. They met with Pope Gregory XIII and his successor, Pope Sixtus V, in Rome, and then returned back to their homeland in 1590. In the following year the embassy members succeeded in seeing HideyoshiToyotomi, who was the leading political ruler in Japan at that time. They gave him some souvenirs from Europe, including the maps. It seems that some official court painters had a chance to see those gifts, from where Japanese artists could have obtained an idea of the ships’ images that appear in the Namban screens.

In 1543, Portuguese sailors first reached Japan. They introduced the fire-weapon ‘arquebus’ (ancestor of rifles) to the Samurai world.
After this encounter, many Portuguese merchants and missionaries traveled to Japan and started the Far Most Eastern Trade with Japan.
Many Japanese artists in the 16th and 17th centuries depicted Europeans on screens, and those soon became popular entertainment. Those pieces are called ‘Namban Screens’.
Today, more than 90 of them survive in the world.

Namban screens are a well-known Japanese art form that was produced between the end of the 16th century and throughout the 17th century. More than 90 of these screens survive today. They possess substantial historical value because they display scenes of the first European activities in Japan. Among the subjects depicted on Namban screens, some of the most intriguing are ships: the European ships of the Age of Discovery.
              Namban screens were created by skillful Japanese traditional painters who had the utmost respect for detail, and yet the European ships they depicted are often anachronistic and strangely. On maps of the Age of Discovery, the author discovered representations of ships that are remarkably similar to the ships represented on the Namban screens. Considering the hypothesis that ships of some of the Namban screens are copies of ships represented on contemporary European cartography, the author realized that one particular historical event connecting Europe and Japan may be the source of these representations. This was the first visit of the Japanese Christian embassy, the Tensho Embassy, to Rome, in 1582. Its journey to Europe and its following visit to the Taiko, or first effective leader of Japan, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, may have been a trigger for the production of one of the most well-known Japanese artworks, the Namban screens.

The arts of Japan have a long tradition of cultural interactions with surrounding civilizations, like Korea and China. This fact turns very difficult to distinguish the autochthonous features of the Japanese art from the external influences. Therefore, the appropriation and refinement of the forms and aesthetic concepts from other cultures and the way these elements are integrated and assimilated are some of the most interesting characteristics of Japanese art.
During the short period between the arrival of the Portuguese merchants and missionaries to the southern isle of Tanegashima in 1543, and their expulsion from the archipelago after the promulgation of the final edict in 1639, the arts of Japan became profoundly influenced by the Western artistic trends. On the other hand, within the framework of the Jesuit missions throughout Asia European artists, as well as the Chinese and Japanese artists converted to Christianity and introduced to the European artistic techniques by the Italian painter Giovanni Niccolo, appropriated the schemes and prototypes of Buddhist and Shinto art to combine with Christian themes and iconography.
This paper examines the entanglement of namban art as a result of the artistic confluence inherent to the cultural exchange between the namban-jin and the Japanese, during the Momoyama and Early Edo period. The first part discusses the influence of European continuous narrative painting in the byōbu depicting the arrival of the Portuguese trading vessel, combined with the caricature and exotic portrait of the Portuguese. One of the most intriguing elements of the namban byōbu paintings are the ‘frames of reality’ standing as a visual document of the wide range of commodities from Europe, Asia, and Africa brought to Japan by the Portuguese trading vessel. Many of these exotic and rare objects, made with different materials and techniques, were immediately adopted and refined by the local workshops and commissioned by the Shogunate and the European merchants.
The second part of the paper examines the interplay of Christian and Buddhist art, in particular the permeation of Christian art to Buddhist archetypical representations of the bosatsu, accordingly with the Jesuit approach of cultural accommodation, as well as the role of the Seminary of the painters established in Nagasaki by the Italian Jesuit painter Giovanni Niccolo, in the global context of the Jesuit missions in all Asia. Furthermore, in this cultural and artistic framework and taking into consideration the accuracy of the namban byōbu paintings in the rendering of urban landscapes, it is critical to discuss the influence of Japanese architecture in the layout and interior decoration of the Christian churches in Japan, with particular attention to the arrangement of the devotional altars.

Este artículo presenta y estudia un atril Nambán inédito del periodo Momoyama (final del siglo XVI) conservado en el Museo de la iglesia de Santa María de los Corporales de Daroca, proponiendo posibles donantes.

This article presentas and studies an unedited Namban lectern from the Momoyama period (end of the sixteenth century) kept at the Santa María de los Corporales Church Museum in Daroca (Zaragoza), proposing posible donors.