RUBENS, Peter Paul
(b. 1577, Siegen, d. 1640, Antwerpen)

Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume

1617
Chalk, pastel, pen and ink on light brown laid paper, 446 x 248 mm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

This magnificent costume study is also an affecting portrait of Nicolas Trigault, a Flemish Jesuit missionary to China. Rubens, who had close ties to the Jesuit college of Antwerp, made the drawing when Trigault visited the city to raise funds and recruit new missionaries. The costume combines a Korean cap and the robe of a Chinese scholar, conveying the Jesuits' desire to assimilate into Chinese culture while at the same time acknowledging and keeping a certain distance from it.




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