Portrait of Prince Yeoning

In the upper left of the painting is written "First enfeoffed as Prince Yeoning, former sobriquet Yangseongheon," indicating that this portrait was made before King Yeongjo became king, while he still held the title Prince Yeoning. It is a full-length seated portrait in an eight-tenths left-facing view, the sitter shown with hands folded before him, in formal court dress consisting of a sa cap, a green round-collared robe bearing a rank badge with a baekchaek, a mythical all-knowing beast, a rhinoceros-horn belt, and black deerskin boots. The portrait was painted in 1714, when Yeongjo was twenty-one, by Jin Jae-hae (d. before 1735). In 1745, the 21st year of King Yeongjo's reign, it was enshrined in Taeryeongjeon Hall of Gyeonghuigung Palace; when King Jeongjo came to the throne it was moved briefly to Gyeonghyeondang Hall, then in the third month of 1778, the second year of King Jeongjo, it was transferred to Seonwonjeon Hall. Although a third of the portrait's edges have been lost to fire damage, the face, rank badge, belt and footrest survive intact, making it a valuable resource for studying the techniques of portrait painting of the period. Very few royal portraits from the Joseon dynasty survive today — among them King Taejo's portrait at Gyeonggijeon Hall in Jeonju and the portraits of King Cheoljong and Crown Prince Ikjong held by the National Palace Museum — so even as a portrait of Yeongjo from his days as Prince Yeoning rather than a formal royal portrait, this work serves as valuable reference material for the study of royal portraiture. It is especially valuable for research on Jin Jae-hae, who served as chief painter for the 1713 portrait of King Sukjong, the 39th year of his reign, and later took part in producing portraits of scholar-officials, including the Portrait of Jo Yeong-bok, elder brother of the painter Jo Yeong-seok. Together with the treasure-designated Portrait of Kang Hyeon, this work is also regarded as a benchmark example of the early 18th-century style of formal court-dress portraiture. It measures 183 x 87 cm (height x width).

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물