The Funeral Procession of Empress Myeongseong

Section of The Funeral Procession of Empress Myeongseong : Gyeonyeo

This painting depicts the funerary procession of Empress Myeongseong in 1897, and is speculated to be a piece commissioned in the process of correcting procedural mistakes through the supervision of relevant officials in order to prevent such mistakes during the actual event. The state funeral of Empress Myeongseong was a significant event through which the Great Han declared itself to the world as an imperial power and an independent nation-state, and this picture illustrates the preparations and considerations behind this occasion.

The gyeonyeo was a type of gama that followed the daeyeo, and generally used to pass through narrow doorways when transporting the caskets of kings and queens outside of the royal palace.