The Eastern Palace

Donggwoldo, the Eastern Palace, presents a marvelous comprehensive view of the Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung palaces. It is estimated that the panoramic painting had been made between January 1828 and August 1830, comparing the remaining buildings on the folding screens with the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and the relevant historic records. Not only that, it is a collaborative work by court painters at the Bureau of Painting. The various architectural features of the palaces – buildings, gates, gardens, and ponds – as well as the surrounding hills and mountains are depicted in exquisite detail. The painters employed a bird’s eye view and the parallel diagonals to enhance a sense of monumentality, grandeur, and spaciousness and also used bright red and green colors to depict the architecture. The placement of structures and the surrounding scenes, such as the main royal palaces, are visualized more vividly than the general floor plans at present. Unfortunately, no textual record of the painting has survived; yet, its splendid and all-encompassing view makes itself a timeless masterpiece.