Korea: Official portrait of the late Joseon Period scholar Yi Chae (1680-1746), c. 1802

Yi Chae was a scholar who lived in late Joseon. This shows him at the age of 59. He is donning a black hat known as dongpagwan and a simui, a white scholar’s jacket. The white jacket has a collar in a contrasting black band. A large sash woven with threads in five colors, representing the four cardinal directions and the center, drapes down from the mid-chest level.

The eyes staring straight ahead are meticulously depicted with great detail. As the eyes were increasingly regarded as the windows to the moral universe of the subject, they were a focal point of portraits from the late Joseon.

This painting is designated as the 1483rd National Treasure of Korea.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History