Portrait of An Hyang

Basic information

Designation

National Treasure No.111

Category

Painting

Era

고려 충숙왕 5년(1318)

Designated year

1962

Location

영주시, 경상북도— 경북 영주시 순흥면 소백로 2740, 소수박물관 (내죽1리)

Coordinates

36.925803, 128.582143

This portrait, 29 centimeters wide and 37 centimeters long, shows An Hyang (1243-1306), a great scholar-statesman of mid Goryeo (918-1392) who served the dynasty in many important government posts and, above all, introduced Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian teachings to Korea through his visits to Yuan. The painting is divided into two parts to have a portrait of the scholar on the lower half and a eulogy praising his life and achievement written on the upper half. In the portrait, the sitter is in a plain headcloth, facing left. The face is outlined with red and the robe folds with simple strokes without shading. It is comparatively a simple painting but effectively captures the sitter’s integrity and nobility with the eyes gazing into the distance and firm shoulders. Currently enshrined in a historic Confucian shrine-academy called Sosu Seowon, the painting is known to have been copied from the original when the latter was produced in 1318, 12 years after his death, to be enshrined at a shrine honoring Confucius. The copied portraits was first enshrined at a local Confucian academy but later moved to Baegundong Seowon (today’s Sosu Seowon) when it was established in 1542. The portrait is known as the oldest extant portrait produced by a Korean artist and regarded as a valuable source of information about the portraits of Goryeo.

Location