Portrait of Yeom Je-sin

This is a portrait of Yeom Je-sin (1304–1382), a civil official of the late Goryeo period, measuring 42.1 cm in width and 53.7 cm in height. Yeom Je-sin lived in Yuan China from childhood and won the favour of the Yuan emperor; after returning to Goryeo, he earned the trust of successive kings and rose to the post of Munhasijung (Chief State Councillor). The portrait shows him wearing a pyeongjeonggeon cap and looking to the right; his face has a greyish tone, and his eyebrows, hair and beard were rendered with fine black and white lines. The rims of his eyes were shaded in red, and after his eyelids were drawn with fine ink lines, each individual eyelash was painted in. His robe is depicted with a scrolling vine pattern in purple lines on a light lavender ground. It is said that this portrait was painted personally by King Gongmin, though this is not certain. It shows the same type of composition and painting style found in other Goryeo-period portraits, such as those of An Hyang and Yi Je-hyeon, and the scrolling vine pattern on the robe, seen here for the first time and rendered with delicate skill, has led this portrait to be valued as an especially precious work demonstrating the high level of Goryeo portrait painting.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물