Kano Sanraku · 1559–1635
Kano Sanraku
Kano Sanraku was a painter of the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods. He entered Kano Eitoku's studio and took the Kano name, serving Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Hideyori. His descendants, who stayed in Kyoto, are known as the Kyo Kano.
Kano Sanraku is said to have been born in 1559 (Eiroku 2) in Gamo District, Omi Province (now Shiga Prefecture), the son of Kimura Nagamitsu, a retainer of Azai Nagamasa. After the Azai clan fell, he served Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and on Hideyoshi's orders is said to have entered the studio of Kano Eitoku and been permitted to take the Kano name.
When Eitoku died in 1590 (Tensho 18) while working on the ceiling painting of the Dharma hall of Tofuku-ji, Sanraku took over the work on Hideyoshi's orders and completed it, a sign that he was expected to succeed Eitoku. After that he served the Toyotomi family for two generations, Hideyoshi and Hideyori, as a painter.
His career with the Toyotomi brought him into danger, but he was saved by a plea for clemency from Kujo Yukiie and others. He then provided works to the Kujo family and their circle while also taking commissions from the Edo shogunate, leaving wall paintings and screens in Eitoku's manner. He grew distant from the Kano school, which had moved to Edo, and his descendants who remained in Kyoto came to be called the Kyo Kano.
