Folding screens *byōbu 屏風, usually in a pair, depicting Portuguese and Spanish visitors to Japan in the late 16th and early 17th century. A type of genre painting of the Momoyama period *kinsei shoki fūzokuga 近世初期風俗画, nanban byōbu typically portrayed European ships and trading merchants in a port on the left screen and a group of foreigners heading toward the nanbanji 南蛮寺, or Christian church (erected in Japan in the mid-16th century), on the right screen. It is thought that the inspiration for nanban byōbu came from the port of Nagasaki 長崎, where artists were able to learn European customs and manners from personal observation and sometimes, although it was officially forbidden, interaction with foreigners. The paintings were executed in traditional style, emphasizing detailed representations of individuals, buildings and utensils, and the careful arrangement of these elements over a broad area of the screen, often using many gold clouds. There is no trace of influence in style or in technique from Western painting. Nanban byōbu were popular and thus many copies were made, of which about 60 extant examples are known. Affluent merchant patrons ordered copies of the early compositions but sometimes artists would use their imagination in lieu of actual first-hand subject material. A painter could alter the details as he wished. Although the works were usually unsigned, it is believed that artists of the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派 produced many of the best works. They were soon joined by painters of the Tosa school *Tosa-ha 土佐派 and *machi-eshi 町絵師, who continued to produce nanban byōbu until around 1650. The closing of the country around 1635 and persecution of Christianity by the Tokugawa 徳川 shogunate brought the popularity of nanban art to an end. Later nanban byōbu lacked both spontaneity and vitality.