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Course: Art of Asia > Unit 3
Lesson 7: Joseon dynasty (1392–1897)- The Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)
- Inheritance Document of Yi Seonggye, founder of the Joseon Dynasty
- Album of Poems on “Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers”
- Bongsa Joseon Changhwa Sigwon: Poems Exchanged by Joseon Officials and Ming Envoys
- Portrait of Sin Sukju
- Four Preaching Buddhas
- Sajeongjeon Edition of The Annotated Zizhi Tongjian
- White porcelain moon jars
- Moon jar
- Buncheong Jar with cloud and dragon design
- Blue-and-white Porcelain Jar with Plum, Bamboo, and Bird Design
- Yun Baek-ha, a calligraphic handscroll
- Kim Hongdo, album of genre paintings
- Yi Che-gwan, Portrait of a Confucian scholar
- Yun Du-seo, Portrait of Sim Deukgyeong
- Portrait of Kang Sehwang
- Yi Myeonggi and Kim Hongdo, Portrait of Seo Jiksu
- Portrait of Yi Chae
- Kim Jeonghui’s calligraphy of Kim Yugeun’s Autobiography of Mukso
- Chaekgeori-type screen
- Portrait of Yi Haeung, Regent Heungseon Daewongun
- Jar with tiger and magpie
- Gujangbok, a ceremonial robe symbolizing the king’s prestige
- Jeogui: the most formal ceremonial robe of the Joseon queens
- Jeong Sanggi, Dongguk Daejido (“Complete Map of the Eastern Country”)
- Cheonggu Gwanhaebang Chongdo, or “Map for the National Defense of Korea”
- Kim Jeongho, woodblocks of Daedongnyeojido (“Territorial Map of the Great East”)
- Royal palaces of Seoul
- Confucian scholar's house
- Nine Cloud Dream
- Conservation: Korean lacquer
- Dhratarastra, Guardian King of the East
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Yi Che-gwan, Portrait of a Confucian scholar
by The British Museum
There is a very similar painting in the National Museum of Korea. The similarities of the portraits suggest that they are of the same man, and both painted by Yi Che-gwan (1783-1837). This portrait appears to be the later, as the sitter seems to have aged.
Western painting techniques were introduced to Korea through missionaries in China in the eighteenth century. This influence is apparent here, perhaps in the shape of the eyes, but certainly in the details of the face, such as the wrinkles and the use of repeated minute lines (hatching) to show shading. He wears a traditional horse-hair indoor hat (t'anggon).
Earlier Korean portraits were more interested in capturing a sense of the sitter's 'spirit' rather than in portraying an actual physical likeness. However, during the prosperous eighteenth century it became fashionable in portraiture as well as in chin'gyong, or 'true-view' painting, of real scenes from the Korean landscape.
© The Trustees of the British Museum