Michael Shen Fu-Tsung

Godfrey Kneller painted this portrait of Michael Shen Fu-Tsung in 1687, making it one of the earliest European oil portraits of a Chinese individual. Shen Fu-Tsung, a Chinese Jesuit convert, visited England in 1687 as part of a diplomatic and religious mission with the Flemish Jesuit Philippe Couplet. He met King James II, who was so taken with him that he commissioned this portrait for the royal collection, where it was hung prominently in the king's bedchamber.

Kneller portrays the sitter in Chinese dress, departing from his usual format of English aristocratic portraiture. The careful rendering of unfamiliar textiles and the subject's distinct physiognomy show Kneller's skill in adapting his Baroque portrait style to an unprecedented subject.