The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Vertically long hanging scroll depicting a portrait of the Great Master Yeongwoldang Eungjin, a man with light skin tone seated turned slightly to our left, cross-legged at a table spread with a writing box and cream-covered books. The man wears a green robe with red and blue detailing. He opens one book with his left hand and holds a ceremonial fly whisk in the other, a stick topped with a dragon head whose mouth holds a rope flaring into a shower of white strands.

Portrait of the Great Master Yeongwoldang Eungjin

1700s

Korea, Joseon dynasty

(1392–1910)
hanging scroll, ink, color and gold on silk
Overall: 216.9 x 103.3 cm (85 3/8 x 40 11/16 in.); Painting only: 114.4 x 79.2 cm (45 1/16 x 31 3/16 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1990.16
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

In East Asian Buddhist temples, portraits of Buddhist monks are housed in special dedicated halls as icons of spiritual ancestors to the community of Buddhist monks and nuns.

Description

The monk in this portrait, identified by an inscription in a red cartouche at the upper right of this painting, is the Great Master Yeongwoldang Eungjin. Portraits of this type, painted following the death of an important Buddhist monk, are known as jinyeong. His elevated status is indicated by his fine monastic garments, the dragon-headed ceremonial fly whisk he holds in his left hand, and the Buddhist scripture in his right hand. The writing box on his desk, with brushes, ink stone, and water dropper, further emphasizes his prowess as a man of deep insight into the Buddhist teachings.
  • ?–1990
    (Yanagi Fine Art Shop, Kyōto, Japan, sold to he Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1990–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cho, Sun-mie. Portrait Paintings in Korea [한국초상화 연구]. Seoul: Youlhwadang, 1983.
    Cunningham, Michael R. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 131 www.jstor.org
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 244-245
    Portraits of the Joseon Period [조선 시대 초상화]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2007.
    Cho, Sŏn-mi. Great Korean Portraits: Immortal Images of the Noble and the Brave. Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do: Dolbegae Publishers, 2010.
    Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
    Stiller, Maya. "Specific Aspects and Functions of Korean Monk Portraits [한국 고승진영의 특성과 기능]." In Buddha in the Heart [마음이 곧 부처]. Kwangju Kwangyŏksi: Kungnip Kwangju Pangmulgwan [Gwangju National Museum], 2017. pp. 236-245
    Longhi, Leighton R. Leighton R. Longhi: Forty-Five Years in Asian Art. [New York, N.Y.]: Leighton R. Longhi, 2019. Reproduced: p. 61, fig. 45
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 238). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 21, 2014-July 21, 2015).
    Asian Autumn: Later Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 1992-January 3, 1993).
    Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of the Great Master Yeongwoldang Eungjin|url=false|author=|year=1700s|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.16