Đạo Mẫu Việt Nam - Mother Goddess Religion of Viet Nam
Portrait of the First Courtier, Imperial Commissioner of Heaven – Divine Portraits Project x Camelia Pham
Portrait of the First Courtier, Imperial Commissioner of Heaven – Divine Portraits Project x Camelia Pham

Portrait of the First Courtier, Imperial Commissioner of Heaven – Divine Portraits Project x Camelia Pham

Four Palaces - Tứ Phủ Portrait of the First Courtier, Imperial Commissioner of Heaven - Divine Portraits Project x Camelia Pham

This artwork by artist Camelia Pham, also the second painting in our project Divine Portraits, portrays the First Courtier, Imperial Commissioner of Heaven. The theme color is red for it is the symbolic color of the Heaven Palace [Thiên Phủ].

Since the First Courtier attends the First Mother Goddess in the Heaven Palace, several celestial symbols are featured. On her armchairs are the emblems of the Sun and the Moon. She’s also sitting on a cloud. One of her responsibilities is to manage the records of the Three Palaces, thus we choose to depict her doing the task.

Her costumes, in the Lê dynasty’s style, include three layers. The innermost and middle layers are Giao Lĩnh (crossed-collared robes). The outermost layer is Viên Lĩnh (round-collared robe). She’s also wearing an agarwood beaded string on her neck, with a lotus pendant of sapphire petals and golden stigma. On her right wrist is another sapphire band while the other hand is holding an agarwood mala. Azure is sometimes considered the alternative color of the Heaven Palace.

Her golden crown is inspired by Hàng Trống folk paintings of the Mother Goddesses and Courtiers. The veil is a typical item a priest would don when serving the reflections of the First Courtier.

The inspiration for the costumes is mainly from the book Weaving a Realm by Vietnam Centre.

Some of the patterns in the painting are from the Lê dynasty as well. For this, we send our tremendous gratitude to the project Hoa Văn Đại Việt for their valuable vectors collection.


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