Im Gyeong-eop Portrait

Chungmingong Im Gyeong-eop (1594-1646) was a military commander known for his pro-Ming, anti-Qing stance. He passed the state military examination in 1618, the tenth year of King Gwanghaegun, and in 1624, the second year of King Injo, he served under Jeong Chung-sin and distinguished himself in suppressing Yi Gwal's Rebellion, for which he was ranked first among the Jinmu Wonjong Meritorious Subjects. It is said that in 1640, the eighteenth year of King Injo, a Ming general sent a court painter to produce two portraits of Im Gyeong-eop, one of which was sent to the Ming emperor while the other was given to General Im himself, though no record confirming this has been found. In the upper right of the Portrait of Chungmingong Im Gyeong-eop is an inscription reading "A Likeness Bequeathed by General Im, Chungmingong", and since the posthumous title Chungmin ("Loyal and Resolute") was conferred in 1706, the thirty-second year of King Sukjong, and the costume as a whole shows features typical of the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, the painting can be dated accordingly. Unlike the typical style of Korean portraiture, this portrait shows the sitter facing fully forward, with items of furniture depicted to the right of the figure, another distinctive feature. A portrait in the same format as this Portrait of Chungmingong Im Gyeong-eop is kept at the Chungmingong Byeolmyo, a separate shrine, at 150-11 Seseong-ri, Salmi-myeon, Chungju. Since the two are kept in different locations, there is a need to compare and analyse them together. Although the overall composition of both portraits is identical, the technique and level of detail in the rendering are judged to be somewhat higher in the Byeolmyo version. The Portrait of Chungmingong Im Gyeong-eop is a full-length seated figure shown facing directly forward. While the overall format and technique differ from the three-quarter left-facing view (jwaan chilbunmyeon) typical of Joseon-period portraiture, it is related to the frontal portraits painted in the reign of King Sukjong (1661-1720). The sitter wears a samo (gauze official's hat), a dallyeong (round-collared robe), a hyungbae (embroidered rank badge), a belt, and heukpihwa (black leather boots), showing the typical formal attire of a Joseon-period official, which makes the painting a valuable resource for the study of mid-Joseon portrait-painting style and the history of costume.

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Where it is

Region

Chungju, Chungbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료