Dongnaebu sunjeoldo (Patriotic Martyrs at the Battle of Dongnaebu Fortress)

Dongnaebu sunjeoldo depicts the resistance of Magistrate Song Sang-hyeon and the townspeople, who died fighting the invading Japanese forces at Dongnae Fortress on 15 April 1592, the twenty-fifth year of King Seonjo, during the Japanese invasions of Korea. Painted on silk, it is a copy made in 1760, the thirty-sixth year of King Yeongjo, by the painter Byeon Bak after an original first painted in 1709, the thirty-fifth year of King Sukjong; it measures 96 cm wide and 145 cm high. Using a bird's-eye technique, the painting captures the scene of fierce fighting. Dongnae Fortress sits in a circle at the centre, defended by Dongnae's soldiers concentrated around the southern gate tower, while Japanese troops surround them in layers, attacking. Below the fortress walls is a scene of a life-and-death struggle with the Japanese forces, and at the centre inside the walls is depicted the martyrdom of Song Sang-hyeon, seated facing north in red official robes; outside the north gate, by contrast, is depicted the group of Yi Gak, the Left Army Commander of Gyeongsang, fleeing and abandoning the fortress. The mountains at the top of the picture are rendered with outlines and dots, giving a somewhat stiff appearance. Although the work is not of the highest artistic rank, and some stiffness can be seen in its composition, forms and brushwork, it conveys a lesson of national spirit in depicting a people who fought to the end in the face of great national crisis.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Nowon-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물