조영석이 그린 이지당 조영복 초상: 연거복본의 제작과 함의를 중심으로

Abstract

In 1724, Jo Yeongseok (1686-1761), a representative literati painter of late Joseon Korea, visited his older brother Jo Yeongbok (1672-1728), who had been exiled to Yeongcheon, and painted a draft for his brother’s portrait. The following year, Jo Yeongbok was released from exile and he returned to his official position. Jo Yeongseok commissioned Jin Jaehae, a leading portraitist during the early 18th century, to paint a formal portrait of his brother wearing a sibok (pink-colored official robe). He himself produced an informal portrait of Jo Yeongbok wearing a plain robe with a square hat (banggeon) and showing his bare hands. This portrait by Jo Yeongseok is recognized as jeonsin sajo, the ideal stage of expressing the spiritual essence of the sitter in a portrait. During Joseon dynasty, portraiture was a specialized field of painting in which only professional painters would engage. But despite being a scholar painter, Jo Yeongseok created a portrait and even surpassed the artistic achievement of a professional painter. As a Confucian intellectual, Jo shared the view of Neo-Confucians that painting was a lowly skill (賤技). The given study explores what drove Jo Yeongseok to paint a portrait and what he wanted to express through the depiction of his brother. The hostilities and power struggles among political parties during the reign of King Gyeongjong (r. 1720-1725) may have motivated Jo to paint his brother’s portrait. The Noron (old learning) faction, to which Jo’s family belonged, advocated for the king’s half-brother Yeoning’gun (later Yeongjo, r. 1724-1776), but it was defeated by the Soron (young learning), which aimed to protect the reign of Gyeongjong. As a result, the Noron faced a major crisis and numerous of its scholar officials including Jo Yeongbok were either banished or executed. The political situation suddenly changed when Gyeongjong died unexpectedly in 1724. King Yeongjo succeeded the throne legitimately, and Jo Yeongbok and other representatives of the Noron returned to their positions. Once his brother was restored to power, Jo initiated the production of Jo Yeongbok’s portraits based on the draft from his exile. The portrait painted by Jin Jaehae and depicting Jo Yeongbok clad in an official robe symbolizes his loyalty to Yeongjo and commemorates his political restoration. The other one portraying him with a plain robe and a gray square hat reflects the sitter’s identity as a Confucian scholar. Furthermore, it evokes the image of Song Siyeol (1607-1689), scholar and politician of the 17th century and leader of the Noron faction, since there are several portraits of him wearing a white hat and robe similar to Jo Yeongbok. Song Siyeol’s portraits were not only a symbol of his studies and thoughts, but a cultural icon which was enshrined in portrait hall and worshiped by Noron scholars. Song’s portraits depicted by literati painters of a previous generation, were in the center of Jo Yeongseok’s ideas and experiences with portrait. Following the precedent of Noron literati painters, Jo Yeongseok would have painted the portrait to commemorate overcoming the political crisis and his brother’s recovery. When examining Jo Yeongseok’s life and his artwork, it seems that literati painters in Joseon are not only artists who pursue idealistic, aesthetic values, but that they were also members of the high ruling class and they could not free themselves from their socio-political responsibilities.