Hanging Scroll Painting of Gyeongguksa Temple

This gwaebul, a huge Buddhist painting hung outdoors for large ceremonies, was made and enshrined in May 1878 to pray for the long life of Emperor Gojong, Empress Myeongseong of the Min clan, Queen Sinjeong (consort of the posthumous King Ikjong), Queen Myeongheon (second consort of King Heonjong), and the Crown Prince (later Emperor Sunjong). It was funded by around a hundred donors, including Min Gyeom-ho, Minister of War, Seo Dang-bo, a Daehogun (senior military officer), and some twenty court ladies (sanggung). It was produced under the direction of the monk painters Geumgok Yeonghwan and Hanbong Changyeop, who had also made the gwaebul of Heungguksa Temple in 1858, and it shows iconography similar to that painting. The dignified yet splendid figures of the buddhas and bodhisattvas filling the entire picture surface overwhelm the viewer, and the work is notable as a gwaebul jointly sponsored by court ladies and high officials, who were major patrons of Buddhist painting in the Seoul region in the late Joseon period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산