For sarahbellem

[gurdymonkey]

Someone is in our Middle Ages wearing her ruffs. (Well, that's not exactly what she wrote, but my genetic composition prevents me from writing in CatMacro.)

So I figured I needed to put this up: It's from the Kyoto Costume Museum and it depicts a 16th century Japanese convert to Christianity. (I would love to find the original artwork this is based on....)

Comments

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

Oh my. Wow. That's definitely one for the fashion gods to sort out. Now, I just wish they had a female version, because I'd LOVE to see that. LOL.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

I have not found evidence of a female version. Then again, one has to remember that the Europeans who got to Japan in the 16th century were all male.

Contact with the general population was strictly limited once the shogunate got involved - and vigorously suppressed once the shogun decided that conversion of his subjects to Christianity was dangerous and devisive. The only Europeans to survive the purges after that were the Dutch. They were allowed to stick around and trade as long as they stayed in their compound at Deshima.

There's a genre called "namban art" showing European ships and sailors and so forth. Pretty interesting stuff.

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

That feels like the picture of you and Vittoria. Yes, it may really have happened but it's Just Not Right.

[florentinescot.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[bovil.livejournal.com]

I was reading that there's some argument over whether this was the costume of a convert to Christianity, or if it was a dandified adaptation of Portuguese styles by stylish young men.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

As I said, I am dying to see the source this was taken from. While he is wearing a crucifix, it is not outside the realm of possibility he is simply doing so because it looks "cool."

[takadai-no-tora.livejournal.com]

That certainly happened with armor. Tokugawa Ieyasu had a couple of sets of Japanese-made namban armor: rigid breast and back plates and morion-style helm with Japanese style face-guard. Very interesting-I think the pieces are actually in Nagoya, they were on loan to the National Museum in Ueno when I saw them