A Gathering of Officials Painted in the Style of An Gyeon
Gathering of Government Officials
  • Unidentified artist
  • Joseon Dynasty, 16th century
  • Ink on silk
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Purchase, Michael and Kathleen Linburn Gift, 2022 (2022.98)

This gyehoedo (commemorative gathering painting) depicts a group of officials seated beneath two pine trees atop a hill. At the center sits the presumed host of the gathering, flanked by six other officials arranged symmetrically on either side. On the left side of the painting, a group of attendants on horseback is shown crossing a bridge to join the gathering, suggesting that the total number of participants was eight. The composition features an expanded spatial arrangement, with the river running through the center dividing the scene into left and right sections. Across the river, houses and figures are also depicted, while a stone pagoda is faintly visible atop a peak emerging through the mist at the center of the painting.