Folding Screen of Wangseja tangang jinhado (Celebration for the Birth of the Crown Prince)

This folding screen, titled Wangseja tangang jinhado (Painting of the Celebration for the Birth of the Crown Prince), consists of ten panels in total: the scene of the congratulatory ceremony is depicted across eight panels, while the two outer panels at either end bear the seating list and names of the officials present. It is a court record painting depicting the congratulatory ceremony (jinharye) held at Injeongjeon Hall in Changdeokgung Palace on 14 February 1874, the 11th year of Emperor Gojong's reign, to celebrate the birth of the Crown Prince, later Emperor Sunjong (1874–1926). The painting places Injeongjeon Hall, where the ceremony is taking place, at the centre, with the surrounding buildings, trees and mountain peaks depicted to either side; every figure and building is rendered delicately in deep colour. The composition as a whole uses parallel diagonal lines, and the ceremony is shown using a bird's-eye (bugam) perspective. The pillars and walls of Injeongjeon Hall are drawn much taller than in reality, so that the scene taking place inside the hall is shown in its entirety without omission. However, the brushwork, colouring and depiction are somewhat lacking in quality, and the screen is relatively small in scale, so it is unlikely to have been made for presentation to the court; it is more likely one of a set of gyebyeong, commemorative screens produced by officials and divided among themselves, made at the time. Even so, as a gyebyeong recording the event, it is an extremely rare work.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물