Folding screen depicting Hideyoshi's Osaka Castle

A friendship agreement now exists between Graz Palace in Austria & Osaka Castle. It all started in 2006 when the magnificent folding screen depicting Osaka castle was discovered decorating the walls of one of the Indian rooms of the Eggenberg Palace. It’s believed the screen was painted in the years prior to Osaka castle’s destruction during the Winter & Summer campaigns by Tokugawa forces in 1614 – 1615.

The screen most probably made it’s way to Europe in the mid to late 1600′s then into the hands of Prince Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg. The eight-part folding screen was dissembled in 1750 and the individual panels were embedded into the walls of the third Indian room of the Eggenberg Palace some years later. The Indian rooms were decorated with treasures brought to Europe by the East-India company.

More information can be found at the The Universal Museum Joanneum website and this Japan Times Article.