Portrait of O Ja-chi

This portrait, presumed to depict O Ja-chi, a military official of the Joseon period, measures 105 cm wide and 160 cm tall. Little is known about O Ja-chi, but he is said to have been ranked a first-class meritorious subject for his role in suppressing Yi Si-ae's rebellion in 1467, the thirteenth year of King Sejo. The portrait shows him seated on a chair, facing to the right. He wears a black official's cap and a dark blue official robe, with his hands clasped together inside his sleeves. A rank badge embroidered with a tiger design on his chest indicates that he held the first rank among military officials at the time the portrait was painted. His face was painted in flesh tones with the outlines drawn in brown, and his lips were rendered in an ochre slightly darker than the skin tone, giving a calm impression. The outline of the robe is drawn with sharp angles, and the lining visible through the side slits is rendered stiffly, as if starched. Apart from its subject, this painting shares the same format and style as the portraits of Jang Mal-son and Son So, suggesting that it was painted at the same time, when portraits of all meritorious subjects were ordered to be made in 1476, the seventh year of King Seongjong. It is a valuable work, one of only a few surviving from the early Joseon period, and exemplifies the typical style of meritorious-subject portraiture.

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Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물