Portrait of Jang Mal-son

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.502

Category

Painting

Era

조선시대(15세기)

Designated year

1969

Location

영주시, 경상북도— 경상북도 영주시

Coordinates

No precise coordinates are available, so this item is not shown as a map marker. To be added later.

This is a portrait, 107 centimeters wide and 171 centimeters long, of a civil minister, Jang Mal-son (1431~1486). Jang served as a civil minister between the reigns of King Sejo and King Seongjong and was appointed as a meritorious retainer after he suppressed the revolt of Yi Si-ae (1467). It seems that this picture was painted after the revolt. The picture is composed on a three-folded screen with the subject’s face on the middle screen and his two shoulders on the two other two. It is a full-length portrait showing him sitting on a chair. The face is painted in a beige color and outlined with brown, which is an old painting technique that does not distinguish dark and bright color lines. The lips are expressed in a reddish color and the eyes have a vivid appearance. The portrait gives off an aura of calmness. This picture embodies the painting style of the early Joseon Dynasty, with the official uniform extending up to the neck, the arm decks of the chair, the legs aligned together, the angled outline of the clothes, and the hyungbae (embroidered insignia on the breast and the back of the official robe) in which a peacock is embroidered in gold thread. In addition, characteristics of pictures painted during the mid-Joseon Dynasty can be found in several elements such as the tails of the hat spread horizontally like the wings of a dragonfly, the posture looking to the right, the unexaggerated appearance of the body, and the opened hem. As the pattern of a peacock on the hyungbae signifies the first court rank, it is assumed that this portrait was painted after 1482, the 13th year of the reign of King Seongjong, when Jang Mal-son was granted the title of Yeonbokgun. This rare and precious portrait of a meritorious retainer of the early Joseon period remains a valuable cultural asset today.