In the context of this artwork, discuss the Chinese Figure of the Interpretation.
There is a figure wearing a Korean attire in the center of the painting. This figure resembles the subject of one Rubens's drawings, Man in Korean Costume. Rubens used foreign attire in his paintings to add dramatic effects. The figure was originally going to wear Turkish attire, but the Jesuits wanted a variety of clothing to represent their activity in Asia. They did not have a direct relationship with Korea during the seventeenth century, but they learned about the country through their activities in China. The Jesuits displayed their victories and activities outside the country by displaying foreign attire in art pieces. The Korean attire in this painting symbolizes the belief that Catholicism was superior while demoting paganism to a primitive status. Recent research has demonstrated that the man is actually a Chinese Catholic from the Ming period. The confusion was made because of the similarities in clothing.
Korean Catholic Jesuits Asia