By the sixteenth century the influence of Greco-Roman classical art in the West had reached saturation point. With the opening up of sea routes, Japanese flower and bird painting that originated from China came to be highly regarded by Western painters and entered into the mainstream of Western painting. However, due to the different philosophical outlooks of East and West, the ripples it made were still too small.
直到十六世紀西方汲取自希臘、羅馬的藝術母汁已發揮到飽和，加上海運大開，東方美術中，尤其源自中國的日本花鳥畫曾受西畫家青睞，注入西方繪畫大河之中，但基於東西方哲學觀念的差異，激起的漣漪太小。