Portrait of a Seated Civil Official

This hanging scroll depicts a seated gentleman dressed in the red robe of an official; emblazoned with two crested birds in flight amidst clouds, the so-called mandarin square, or badge of rank, indicates that he is a civil official. He sits in a magistrate's chair draped with silk brocade. Visible at the bottom, the lacquer chair shows scrolling designs carved through alternating layers of red and black lacquer. It has been suggested that this portrait may represent Xu Guangqi (1562-1633), a translator and associate of Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), the Italian Jesuit priest active in China in the late Ming period. Although this scroll has long been catalogued as Korean­-indeed, it is related in style to Korean portraits of the Chosôn dynasty (1392-1910)­-it now seems more likely that it is Chinese.