Japan: 'Painting on Zen Enlightenment (Sanping baring his chest and Shigong stretching his bow)', Muromachi Period painting by Kano Motonobu (1476-1559), 16th century. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo

Kano Motonobu (1476-1559 CE) was a Japanese painter born in 1476, in the Kano district (modern-day Shizuoka Prefecture). Motonobu was a member of the Kano school of painting, which was founded by his father, Kano Masanobu, though it was Motonobu that established the distinctive techniques and styles the school would become famous for.

Motonobu's clients were primarily from the imperial court and merchant classes of Kyoto and Sakai, which gave him a lot of political pull and influence, and allowed the Kano school to grow and prosper. His most famous achievement was a new technique of painting known as wa-kan, a mixture of Chinese and Japanese painting styles.

The Kano family would go on to dominate the Japanese painting world from the end of the Muromachi Period all the way through to the end of the Edo Period, their creativity and flexibility allowing them to survive for centuries.

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