숙종과 숙종어진(肅宗御眞)의 제작과 봉안―성군(聖君)으로 기억되기―

Abstract

King Sukjong (r. 1674-1720) made serious efforts to reconstruct and repair the halls of royal portraits as well as to copy and restore the portraits during his reign. In addition, the king ordered his portraits to be painted several times and kept them in various halls. The work commissioned by him is intended to be the reinstatement of the various systems related to the production and enshrinement of royal portraits of the early Joseon period, which were suspended or disappeared around the Imjin War (1592-1598). King Sukjong tried to produce a copy of the portrait of King Taejo (r. 1392-1398) in 1676, two years after his enthronement but failed to do it. He completed reproducing the portrait by establishing the Superintendency for Copying the King's Portraits (Eoyong mosa dogam) in 1688. In the third lunar month of 1689, less than a year after its completion, he ordered Jo Segeol (ca. 1635-1704) to paint his portraits. In 1695, six years after his portrait was drawn, he asked Jo to paint him again. At this time, he kept the two completed portraits in two special halls: Jangnyeongjeon in Ganghwa Province and Seonwonjeon in the palace. He carried out these projects from 1689 to 1695 without consulting with his officials. It was not until 1713 that he was able to produce his portraits officially and openly and hang them in the two halls by establishing the Superintendency for Painting the King's Portraits. When producing the portraits in 1713, King Sukjong officially and publicly used the same procedures and performed ceremonies that he arranged for the reproduction of Taejo's portrait in 1688, such as the establishment of a directorate and the selection of the main painter through examinations. The king actively advocated the opinions of his subjects and let court painters observe him frequently in order for them to capture a truthful likeness of him. It reveals that he wanted to impart sovereignly authority to his portrait to serve as a substitute for him. In other words, the king wanted accurate portraits of him and made them serve as substitutes for him for posterity. He was eager to be remembered as a great monarch comparable to former great kings such as King Taejo and King Sejo (r. 1455-1468) through his portraits as he and his contemporaries commemorated the two king’s distinguished accomplishments. King Sukjong used his portraits as a means of enhancing his kingly way and rulership. In the late Joseon period, the literati who belonged to a particular school or faction commissioned portraits of their teachers after their passing and built shrine to hold memorial services. Enshrinement of a teacher’s portrait was aimed to commemorate him as a great scholar. Local people began to build shrines for their magistrate, produced his portrait, and hung it on the wall of shrines to celebrate his remarkable achievements. Late Joseon kings commissioned court painters to paint loyal subjects regularly and stored some of the portraits in the palace or in state institutions. They thought that each of the subjects should be remembered as a ‘loyal subject’ to future generations. King Sukjong also hoped that his descendants would see his appearance in his portraits and then remember him as a sage king.