The Weight of the Kano Lineage To understand the trajectory of Japanese painting during the transition from the Azuchi-Momoyama to the Edo period, one must look directly at the brushwork of Kano Takanobu. He was not a solitary figure emerging from a vacuum but a central pillar of the Kano school, born into the very heart of its power in Kyoto. As the son of the master Kanō Eitoku and brother to Kanō Mitsunobu, his position was defined…