Namjigiro Assembly Painting

This painting was made in imitation of Gyeongho Dangwondo (Treasure No. 866), which depicts a gathering between an aged king and officials of the second grade or above who were seventy years old or older. Painted in colour on silk and mounted as a hanging scroll, it prominently depicts twelve elderly officials and women preparing a table of food and drink, the clothing of the figures shown in varied colours. At the front, willow trees stand paired on either side; behind them a pond spreads out with lotus flowers blooming beautifully, and on the far bank stands the building where the gathering of elders is held. The mood created by the pond and its lotus flowers envelops the whole scene, and the composition stands out for being well organised yet simple. The fresh yet subdued colouring, in harmony with the beautiful lotus flowers, gives the work a strongly poetic atmosphere. Whereas paintings of the early Joseon period set the scene of such a commemorative gathering as a very small, symbolic element against a landscape background in the style of the An Gyeon school, this work, true to the character of a mid-Joseon painting, places far greater emphasis on the scene of the gathering itself. Writings by Jang Yu and Bak Se-dang survive beneath the painting, from which its history can be traced: it depicts a gathering held at the house of Hong Cheom-ju near Sungnyemun Gate, the original having been painted in 1629, the seventh year of King Injo, by Yi Gi-ryong, a painter of the Dohwaseo (Royal Bureau of Painting); this version was made by copying that original after the Byeongja War, the Manchu invasion of 1636.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Nowon-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산