Getty Museum
Man in Korean Costume
Creator
Peter Paul RubensFlemish Artist · 1577–1640
All works by this person →International diplomat, savvy businessman, devout Catholic, fluent in six languages, an intellectual who counted Europe's finest scholars among his friends, Peter Paul Rubens was always first a painter. Few artists have been capable of transforming such a vast variety of influences into a style utterly new and original. After study with local Antwerp painters, Rubens began finding his style in Ita
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1617
- Medium
- Black chalk with touches of red chalk in the face
- Culture
- Flemish
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
Peter Paul Rubens probably made this study of a man in Korean costume as an independent work of art. Since contact between Europe and Korea was almost non-existent in Rubens's time, how he came into contact with Korean silk robes and transparent headdress in Antwerp remains a mystery. In the background, Rubens sketched a small boat to emphasize a distant place, but he was clearly more interested in the costume than in providing a detailed setting. The drawing is one of Rubens's most meticulous depictions, enriched by touches of red chalk added to the man's face. Fascinated by the play of light on the silk, Rubens juxtaposed black chalk and white paper to create the man's shimmering costume. This drawing later inspired one of the central figures in Rubens's painting *The Miracles of Saint Francis Xavier* in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
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