was a Japanese painter. He was the chief painter of the Ashikaga shogunate and is generally considered the founder of the Kanà  school of painting. Kano Masanobu specialized in Zen paintings as well as elaborate paintings of Buddhist deities and Bodhisattvas.
Masanobu's father had been a samurai and amateur artist named Kanà  Kagenobu. Masanobu would start the line of professional artists of the Kanà  family. As an artist, Masanobu, like many in his day, was influenced by the priest-painter Tenshà  Shà «bun, and some sources indicate that he may have received the bulk of his artistic education under Shà «bun. Masanobu worked in the suiboku ink and wash style, derived from Chinese painting, but brought a Japanese touch to the style with more defined forms. Very few of his works survive with Zhou Maoshu Appreciating Lotuses being an exception.
Kanà  Masanobu would serve the Ashikaga shogunate as an official painter (御ç¨絵師, goyà  eshi), succeeding to the post. Although Masanobu's father was a samurai, the family was provincial and therefore he did not hold a court rank. Instead of a rank, he had gained his position in service due to a mix of both achievement and social capital. This led to some criticism as aristocrat Shà «zan Tà Âki expressed disdain towards Masanobu stating he was not a "born court painter."
The Kanà  school would maintain its dominance as the dominant painting style for over 400 years from Masanobu's time up through the Meiji Restoration (1868). However, the school's style is neither purely nor mainly Masanobu's legacy, as the distinct Kanà  style is linked more to Masanobu's son Kanà  Motonobu, who took over as head of the school after Masanobu.
Masanobu is said to be a descendant of Kanà  Muneshige, a samurai of the Kamakura period of the Kanà  clan, through his father, Kanà  Kagenobu. Through this lineage, Masanobu would descend from the Fujiwara clan through the Kudà  clan.