2-730-169 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Gathering among the Members of Office Censor-General, 1700s. On a hilly riverbank a few gentlemen enjoy an outdoor picnic under old pine trees, while a servant woman prepares their meal and drink. Despite its leisurely atmosphere, the painting depicts a professional workshop. Called "gathering painting," this hanging scroll depicts a gathering of the members of the Office of Censor-General, a powerful government unit that supervises all the state matters, including even the king’s behavior. Below the painting is a poem by Sim Eon-gwang (1487-1540), the head of that powerful department. The poem in which Sim expressed the team members’ strong comradeship and loyalty to the king was composed in 1540; the hanging scroll itself, however, is a later copy from the 1700s. Unlike the original 1500s work in the National Museum of Korea, the CMA painting does not bear the title and the list of participants except for Sim’s lengthy poem.