Rubens drew this monumental yet sensitive portrait when Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628), a Jesuit missionary, was visiting Antwerp in 1617. Trigault had lived in China since 1610 but returned to Europe for a four-year fund-raising tour on behalf of the Jesuit missions in the East. Throughout his career Rubens accepted commissions from the Society of Jesus, providing the relatively new and revolutionary order with altarpieces, book illustrations, frontispieces, and a famous cycle of ceiling paintings for their church in Antwerp.

In Trigault's time the number of Jesuits living in China had reached twenty, but their position was precarious. The missionaries assumed the role of learned scholars among the mandarins; in order to achieve their goals and obtain official recognition for their Catholic faith, they learned the Chinese language, adopted Chinese names, and emulated the local manners and dress. The beard and costume, an amalgam of Korean hat and Chinese robe, suited that goal. Rubens captured beautifully the cut, texture, and weight of the robe. Trigault died in Nanking (Nanjing) in 1628.