Portrait of Yi Won-ik

The Portrait of Yi Won-ik was made to commemorate Ori Yi Won-ik (1547–1634) being awarded second-class merit as a Hoseong-gongsin, a meritorious subject honoured for accompanying the king during the Japanese invasions, in 1604; since the shape of his samo, or gauze official cap, differs somewhat from the portraits of the Cheongnan-gongsin and Seonmu-gongsin merit subjects made in the same year, this portrait is thought to have been painted a few years after the merit title was conferred. The subject of the portrait, Ori Yi Won-ik, had the courtesy name Gongnyeo and the pen name Ori; his family seat was Jeonju, and he was a great-great-grandson of Ikryeong-gun Chi, a son of King Taejong, born as the son of Yi Eok-jae. He passed the special state examination in 1569, the second year of King Seonjo, and went on to serve as Inspector-General, Minister of Taxation and Minister of Personnel, among other posts; he is celebrated as one of the representative incorrupt officials, or cheongbaengni, of the Joseon dynasty. The portrait is mounted as a hanging scroll and shows the subject full-length, seated in a chair; he wears a black gauze cap and a black round-collared robe, with his hands clasped together in front of him, and cloud patterns appear on either side of the cap. The face shows almost no shading, its features rendered mainly through line drawing, while black leather shoes and a coloured felt rug are placed on the footstool beneath him — features typical of merit-subject portraiture.

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Where it is

Region

Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Treasure · 보물