Clothes Make a Man, or Do They? The Jesuits and Their Costuming Issue in China

Presenter: Zixiao Huang
204 Frick Fine Arts Building

This article focuses on Peter Paul Rubens’ drawing of Nicolas Trigault, made in Antwerp in 1617, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By re-examining the costume of Trigault, the author argues that he is fashioned in a Chinese daopao which corresponded to the “dress-as-local” policy practiced by the missionaries of the Society of Jesus in China. By depicting the costume in such vivid detail, Trigault and Rubens strived to deliver an image of a fruitful mission for their Northern donors. However, by combining primary resources and records in China, despite the drawing purporting to show a successful missionary, the reality is that the mission was not successful; and the fact that a painting was never done seems to confirm that the illusion was never going to be believed, and was therefore abandoned.