Fragment of a Mural Featuring a Horse Rider

This fragment comes from a mural that was painted on the plaster of the south wall of the entrance corridor leading to Ssangyongchong Tomb, a Goguryeo mural tomb. The walls of the corridor were once richly decorated with images of people riding chariots and horses, as well as a musical band, but they have now all but disappeared. In 1913, when Ssangyongchong Tomb was investigated by the Japanese, this fragment was still attached to the wall, but it later came into the possession of the Joseon Government-General Museum and ultimately ended up in the current collection. Ssangyongchong Tomb consists of two chambers, with an entrance corridor leading to the front room, followed by a connecting corridor leading to the burial chamber. The entire wall surface of the burial chamber was plastered and then decorated with paintings that showed scenes from everyday life and the Four Guardian Deities. This particular mural fragment features a horse rider, and provides valuable information about the type of horse tack that Goguryeo people used, as well as what they wore.