Title Pictorial Convention and Architectural Representation: Gate Pavilion Roof Forms in Late Joseon Paintings
Authors 허유진(Huh, Yoojin) ; 최정우(Choi, Jungwoo)
DOI https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2026.42.9.179
Page pp.179-189
ISSN 2733-6247
Keywords Late Joseon painting; Gate pavilion; Roof types; Pictorial convention; Architectural representation
Abstract This study examines how gate pavilion roof forms are represented in late Joseon paintings, focusing on pictorial convention and architectural representation. Major gate pavilions of the Hanyang City Wall, Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, and royal palaces generally have hip roofs, whereas many surviving gate pavilions of provincial fortresses have hip-and-gable roofs. This distribution has often been understood as indicating a hierarchy between the two roof forms. Yet late Joseon paintings frequently depict capital and palace gates with hip-and-gable roofs, even when the extant buildings have hip roofs. Based on nineteen paintings, this study compares painted roof forms with extant structures, photographs, and documentary sources, and classifies the cases into four types: discrepancy, conflict, mixture, and correspondence. The analysis reveals an asymmetrical pattern: hip-roofed gate pavilions are repeatedly depicted with hip-and-gable roofs, whereas the reverse case has not been identified. Sungnyemun and Heunginjimun may reflect historical changes in roof type, while Changuimun and Honghwamun suggest pictorial convention. The mixture seen in Janganmun, Paldalmun, and Donhwamun, together with the conflict in Gyeonggigamyeongdo, shows that observation and convention could operate simultaneously. The findings suggest that the hip-and-gable roof functioned as a visual marker for gate pavilions in late Joseon paintings. Thus, the present-day hierarchy between hip and hip-and-gable roofs, derived mainly from extant architecture, should not be directly projected onto late Joseon visual culture.