Portrait of a Government Official
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
156.4 × 87.3 cm · painting only: 127 × 71.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Korean Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
2020.259
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
Wearing a dark green court uniform, a man is seated in a chair covered with a leopard skin, a gift from the royal court to a newly appointed officer. The embroidered rank badge with a design of a single flying crane identifies the sitter’s bureaucratic status: the third ranked officer. In this work, the painter Chae Yongshin (1848–1941) rendered a newly promoted government official's shy smile, giving a glimpse into his mixed feelings of confidence and anxiety about his future professional caree...