The Portrait of Park Seunghyun
Unknown
coloring on silk
Joseon dynasty 1818
57.9cm x 108.6cm

This is a portrait of the scholar “Toecho” at age 41, according to the inscription on the upper right corner of the painting. The pen name “Toecho” refers to Park Seunghyun (朴升鉉 1778~ ?) who served as an Assistant Writer in the Office of Special Counselors. The text explains that he was a senior fifth-rank lecturer at the National Confucian Academy, and the embroidered patch decorated with a single crane also indicates his position as an official below the third rank. Following the Joseon Dynasty rules of portraiture for meritorious subjects, this is a full body portrait of a man seated in an armchair wearing a green official uniform and traditional headdress, facing left in a three-quarter profile. With a number of features including the shadows on the face, the vivid creases in the clothing, the angle of the feet, the leopard skin over the armchair, and the straw mat with floral designs on the footrest, it reflects the style of the late Joseon Dynasty. It successfully displays jeonsinsajo 傳神寫照, a unique characteristic of traditional Korean portraits which depicts not only the form but the spirit embodied by the person.