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The Hangaram Museum of the Seoul Arts Center is currently holding a display of a particular 17th century Western painting that Koreans are very familiar with: baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)¡¯s ¡°Korean Man.¡± The subject of the painting, a man known as ¡°Antonio Corea,¡± may actually have been a Korean, judging from his name, attire, appearance, and other factors.
The painting is currently owned by the Getty Museum of the United States; the museum purchased the work in 1983 at Christie¡¯s Auction for UK320,000 pounds -- at that time, the highest price ever paid for a drawing. It¡¯s not very large, at 23.5 cm wide and 38.4 cm tall, and the drawing features a man wearing the attire of a Chosun Dynasty official. Rubens tinged the narrow of the nose, the cheeks, and the ears red, giving the drawing a life-like appearance. But is this person actually a Korean? Opinions differ.
In 1979, a Korean paper reported that in the south of Italy, near Catanzaro, there is a small village of 1,000 people called Albi, in which live people with the last name of ¡°Corea.¡± The paper goes on to say that the ancestor of these people was a one Antonio Corea, who was a prisoner of war taken by the Japanese during the Imjin War (1596-1600) and later sold as a slave to Italian merchants. There was no evidence to support this claim, however.
While there is some conjecture that there was an Antonio Corea sold to Italian merchants after he was taken to Japan during the war, the Getty Museum has no other record on the drawing other than it was done in 1617, said Jo Seong-mun, the curator of the Hangaram Museum. Jo added that the painting appears to be a model Rubens met in Antwerp.
The display features not only 12 of Rubens¡¯s drawings, but 50 other works from grand masters such as Antony Van Dijck. The display will run until Feb. 8. Call (02) 580-1300 for more information.
(Jeong Jae-yeon whauden@chosun.com )
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