Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume, 1617
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640)
Black, red, and white chalk, blue pastel, and pen and brown ink on light brown laid paper; 9 3/4 x 17 1/2 in. (24.8 x 44.6 cm)
Purchase, Carl Selden Trust, several members of The Chairman's Council, Gail and Parker Gilbert, and Lila Acheson Wallace Gifts, 1999 (1999.222)
Rubens drew this sensitive portrait while the Jesuit missionary to China was in Antwerp in 1617. Trigault, born in 1577, the same year as Rubens, had gone to China in 1610 but had returned to Europe to raise funds and gather a library. Rubens was close to the rector of the Jesuit College in Antwerp, and in 1615 construction began on a new Jesuit church for which Rubens eventually created two altarpieces and a magnificent series of ceiling designs.
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Related Index Terms
Artist
Material and Technique
- • Drawing, Chalk
- • Portrait, Drawing
- • Preparatory Study
- • Preparatory Study, Drawing
- • Preparatory Study, Drawing, Europe
