Icheon U Portrait and Ieungdo Painting Woodblocks Gongsinhoemaengchuk Woodblocks

This is a portrait of Icheon U (1354–1417), a military official of early Joseon, together with one woodblock carved with a hawk. Icheon U was the son of Yi Won-gye, elder brother of King Taejo of Joseon, Yi Seong-gye. He helped suppress the First Princes' Rebellion (1398) and the Second Princes' Rebellion (1400) and was made a meritorious subject (gongsin) for it, afterwards serving as Minister of War (Byeongjo Panseo) and in other offices. The portrait shows him as a full-length seated figure, wearing a samo (official's winged hat) and official robes, his hands clasped together inside his sleeves as he sits in a chair. He faces slightly to the left, and his robe has slits at both sides, a feature typical of the painting style of early Joseon. The original portrait was first painted in 1416, the sixteenth year of King Taejong. It was copied in 1774, the fiftieth year of King Yeongjo, by Han Jong-yu, then a noted court painter of the Dohwaseo (Royal Bureau of Painting), and was retouched again in 1936 by a painter named Yi Jong-won. Thick white powder was applied over the face and robes and colour added on top, so unfortunately the original colours can no longer be determined. The Ieungdo woodblock, bestowed together with the portrait by King Taejo, appears to have been remade at the same time the portrait was copied under King Yeongjo. It carries an inscription by Yu Choe-gi, a literatus of King Yeongjo's reign, and has a hawk carved on both its front and back, making it valuable material for the study of painting history.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeonggwang, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료