National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Most of the Christian-related materials owned by the Tokyo National Museum were confiscated from Christians by the Nagasaki magistrate's office. This is an oil painting done on cloth and one of the items forfeited during the first stage of confiscation activities. It depicts three saints in an ancient gabled building. It is believed that the one on the left is St. Dominic, the one in the center is St. Lorenzo and the one on the right is holy woman St. Catalina. While the place where this picture was drawn is unknown, it is believed to have been brought in by foreign shipping (hakusai) or to have been painted and brought in by Giovanni Nicolao of the Jesuits, who came to Kyushu to teach Christianity to Japanese people during the missionary period.
　There were many copies of this picture made in Japan among confiscated items. While the original is drawn on a hemp canvas and represents light, shadow and 3D effects via paint thickness, the copies are drawn on cotton cloth and painted thinly and uniformly, producing monotonous representations with little light, shadow or 3D effects. These two types of paintings differ significantly in representation and technique.
　This painting also serves as important material for the understanding of how Western paintings were accepted in modern Japan.