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Portrait of a Government Official
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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 career.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePortrait of a Government Official (관료 초상), 1921. Chae Yongshin (Korean, 1848–1941). Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk; overall: 156.4 x 87.3 cm (61 9/16 x 34 3/8 in.); painting only: 127 x 71.1 cm (50 x 28 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 2020.259
