Abstract

This paper examines the background of the construction of New Seonwonjeon Hall in Changdeokgung Palace, the current state of the royal portraits of the Joseon dynasty that are stored there, and the court paintings installed to decorate the space where these eojin (御眞 royal portraits) are installed, such as folding screen paintings of five peaks and folding screen paintings of peonies. New Seonwonjeon Hall was constructed in the rear garden of Changdeokgung Palace in 1921 by recycling elements from royal buildings brought from Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeokgung Palace. In the early 1900s the Japanese Government-General of Korea implemented a policy of minimizing the national rites for the royal family of the Joseon dynasty, and the shrine buildings in the respective palaces were demolished. Although this place is part of the dark history of the Japanese occupation period, it is also the last jinjeon (royal portrait hall 眞殿) ever built and enshrines the final 48 portraits of the kings of Joseon. Furthermore, it is a historical site housing relics related to royal portraits. Although most of the royal portraits in this hall were lost during the Korean War, folding screens of five peaks and folding screens of peonies and other royal paintings that decorated the areas around the eojin have survived, shedding light on the way paintings were installed inside a royal portrait hall, the traditional decoration known as “majestic ornamentation,” and the state of court paintings from the time after the Academy of Painting 圖畵署 was abolished until the mid-1930s. In conclusion, it is the only surviving royal portrait hall and shows the tradition of royal portrait production and “majestic ornamentation” 莊嚴 from the Joseon dynasty. New Seonwonjeon Hall offers important data on the trends in court painting, which did not cease even under Japanese colonial rule.