경복궁 영제교 천록상 연구

Abstract

Tianlu 天祿(Kr. cheollok) is a mythical animal that is believed to appear when the king well-governs the state. For apotropaic purposes, a pair of tianlu was sculpted on top of the stone revetment of the Yeongjegyo Bridge in Gyeongbokgung Palace. Although some eighteenth-century literary works by Yi Deok-mu and Yu Deuk-gong tells they were sculpted in the early Joseon period and survived the Japanese invasion of 1597, the production techniques of two figures contrast so drastically to a degree of stylistic differences. Hence, an attempt was made to revise the date of the tianlu figures through a comparative stylistic analysis with other animal figures in the Joseon royal tombs. The tianlu figures on the Yeongjegyo Bridge are realistically carved with semicircular, crouching postures that runs fluid with vitality and different facial expressions gazing at the Geumcheon stream. One presents the characteristics of the early Joseon period: a round face with circular protruding eyes with pupils carved in relief, a nose carved with an unexaggerated sense of weight, and voluminous cheeks. Its long hair on the head and the legs are carved naturally as if blowing in the wind and the scales are carved with a maximized three-dimensional effect. However, the other one at the northwest displays the characteristics of the late Joseon sculpture in its details: a modest sense of volume, increased stylistic decoration and rigidity, and the unnatural posture. The analysis suggests the latter piece’s production period during the reconstruction of Gyeongbokgung Palace in the nineteenth century.