A portrait of a woman presumed to be Empress Myeongseong is on view at the Daboseong Gallery in Seoul. / Courtesy of Daboseong Gallery



Woman's identity in painting still not verified

By Kwon Mee-yoo

A portrait presumed to be of Empress Myeongseong (1851-1895) is being shown at an antique-specialized gallery's exhibition.

Daboseong Gallery, based in central Seoul, unveiled the 66.5-centimeter-long by 48.5-centimeter-wide portrait on a scroll, Monday. It features a woman dressed in white "hanbok" (Korean traditional costume) and wearing a white bandana. The woman is seated on a Western-style chair with her hands together.

The gallery said the phrase "portrait of a Madame" is written lengthways on the back of the scroll.

"At first, we thought it was just a portrait of an ordinary woman," Kim Jong-chun, director of Daboseong Gallery, said. "However, when we took infrared photographs of the scroll, there were letters 'Min clan' above Madame, but they suffered later damaged."

Empress Myeongseong is the wife of Joseon's 26th king Gojong and informally known as Queen Min, as her maiden name is Min. She is one of the most famous figures in Korean modern history as she played an important role in maintaining the country amid foreign powers, but was assassinated by the Japanese.

Empress Myeongseong did not leave a single photo of herself and her face is still unknown. There were a few photos suspected to be of the last queen of Joseon, but none of them were confirmed to be Empress Myeongseong.

The gallery claimed that, in addition to the text of Madame Min, her luxurious leather shoes indicate her high status and her visage is similar to that of a photo in former President Syngman Rhee's book suspected to be of Empress Myeongseong.

"Though she is wearing plain hanbok, the dress has royal patterns such as the peony design on the upper garment," Kim said.

However, scholars are skeptical about the authenticity of the painting, citing the evidence is tenuous.

An art professor pointed out that the proportion of the body is distorted, which is unlikely for a royal portrait. "The painter also does not have a good understanding of hanbok and it might have been drawn by a Japanese artist," the professor said.

The exhibit runs through Aug. 31 and other than the portrait in question, some 300 antique artworks from the late Joseon era and the Japanese colonial era (1910-1945) are on view. For more information, call 02-730-0310.