Restoration of the ‘Cypress Trees’ Screen Completed

After the completion of the full restoration of the ‘Cypress Trees’ screen (National Treasure; Tokyo National Museum collection) that is believed to have been a work of KANŌ Eitoku, painter of the Kanō School, the work was displayed to the public at the Tokyo National Museum from February 17 to March 15. The restoration that took place for a year and half involved in an adjustment of unmatched design in the center part as well as remounting from a single eight-fold screen to a pair of four-fold screens in order to improve safety during storage. In addition, the screen had conventionally been presumed to have originally been decorated on sliding doors in the Hachijō no Miya residence that was constructed by TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi. The restoration this time revealed that kira-kiri-mon (paulownia crest with mica) on the back of the painted paper corresponds with karakami monyō (karakami patterns) of the family of Hachijō no Miya, which heightened the possibilities that it would have been a work created in 1590 (Tenshō 18) by Eitoku who suddenly died after the Hachijō no Miya residence was completed. (Japanese)