(b 1176; d ?1265). Painter, son of (6) Fujiwara no Takanobu. Taught by his father, he became a prominent court painter in Kyoto during the Kamakura period (1185–1333). Like his father, Nobuzane brought a heightened naturalism to court portraiture, especially compared with the conventionalized pictorial style (Yamatoe; see JAPAN, §VI, 3(iii)) of the Heian period (794–1185). Facial features that had been rendered with little more than a slanting stroke for the eye and a hook for the nose now exhibited much more individualized detail. Though only slightly truer to life than their forerunners, these works by Nobuzane were called nisee (‘likeness pictures’).

Part of the Fujiwara (ii) family

• Fujiwara no Nobuzane
  • works
    • Fujiwara (ii): (6) Fujiwara no Takanobu
    • GoToba
    • Japan, §VI, 3(iii)(b): Early Yamatoe painters
    • Japan, §VI, 3(iii)(f): Early Yamatoe painting: Portraiture
    • Japan, §VI, 4(ii)(a): Late Yamatoe painting: Introduction
    • Kasen’e, §2: Kamakura period