Sinheungsa Vulture Peak Assembly Painting, Sokcho

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.2181

Category

Painting

Era

1755년(영조 31)

Designated year

2022

Location

속초시, 강원특별자치도— 강원도 속초시 설악산로 1137 (설악동, 신흥사)

Coordinates

38.125500, 128.464300Museum-based location

This English description was machine-translated and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the original Korean text for details.

The Seocho Shinheungsa Yeongsan Hoesang Buddhist painting was created in 1755 by the master painter Taejeon alongside nine additional accomplished Buddhist painters. This distinctive hanging scroll painting was subsequently removed from Shinheungsa Temple, circulating through overseas venues for over seventy years before recently returning to Korea through institutional repatriation programs. Shinheungsa historically maintained close and enduring royal court relationships throughout successive generational periods, thereby establishing this painting as significant documentary evidence of important institutional temple-court patronage associations. The painting demonstrates meticulous individual portraiture rendering, harmonious circular compositional foundations incorporating precise bilateral symmetrical ordering principles, and vertical ascending spatial arrangements establishing stable perspectival treatment throughout the composition. The execution reveals carefully balanced arrangement and refined compositional organization reflecting 18th-century mid-period Buddhist painting's elevated artistic standards. Participating painters included Taejeon, Chilhye, Hyubong, Taesang, Jaeok, Uiyul, Sunmyeong, Duhun, Seongjong, and Jaeseon—comprising ten accomplished and recognized Buddhist painters. Among these participants, Chilhye, Duhun, and Seongjong represented prominent late-Joseon Buddhist painters demonstrating significant regional artistic influence across Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Gyeongsan provinces, substantially advancing Buddhist painting stylistic development. Chilhye specifically inherited aesthetic traditions from the celebrated late-Joseon master Uigyeom through his established artistic lineage connections to the influential Gaktchong family. This compositional tradition remains critically important for understanding late-Joseon Buddhist artistic heritage inheritance and stylistic development. The Seocho Shinheungsa Yeongsan Hoesang represents one of very few surviving 18th-century Buddhist paintings within Gangwon territory, created under royal court patronage at this designated imperial family temple, commissioned specifically for salvific transfer ceremony requirements. The work's compositional synthesis combining regional traditions from Gyeonggi, Jeolla, and Gyeongsan provinces alongside refined individual figure rendering, tranquil compositional atmosphere, moderate color tonalities, and distinguished overall artistic accomplishment establish exceptional aesthetic achievement comprehensively warranting official treasure preservation designation.

Location