Kano Eitoku (1543-1590) was a Japanese painter of the Momoyama period. Working in the bold, colorful style typical of the decorative screen painting of the 16th century, he was the leading artist of his day and one of the most influential Japanese painters.

A member of the illustrious Kano family, Eitoku was born in Kyoto. He received his training under his father, Kano Shoei, and his grandfather, Kano Motonobu, who was the leading painter of the first half of the 16th century. Eitoku's first major work was the decoration of the Jukoin sanctuary at Daitokuji, a famous Kyoto Zen temple, a task he undertook with his father in 1566. Eitoku's fame soon spread, and he became the favorite artist of Oda Nobunaga, the military dictator of Japan, who gave him several commissions. Among those were a set of screens depicting the city of Kyoto and the decoration of Nobunaga's...