Looking East: Rubens's Encounter with Asia

Peter Paul Rubens's fascinating depiction of a man wearing Korean costume of around 1617, in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, has been considered noteworthy since it was made. This large drawing was copied in Rubens's studio during his own time and circulated as a reproductive print in the eighteenth century. Despite the drawing's renown, however, the reasons why it was made and whether it actually depicted a specific Asian person remain a mystery. The intriguing story that develops involves a ship-wreck, an unusual hat, early trade between Europe and Asia, the trafficking of Asian slaves, and the role of Jesuit missionaries in Asia.