The King of Sweet Dew with Inscription of Daegoksa Temple is a Buddhist altar painting produced in 1764 by a group of thirteen artists led by the monk-painter Chisang. The painting’s postscript is partly damaged, but the inscription of the temple’s name, Daegoksa, suggests that it was once enshrined in Daegoksa Temple in Uiseong, Gyeongsangbuk-do.
The painting features a group of seven Buddhas in the center of the upper part, with two groups of bodhisattvas flanking them, while the middle and lower parts are occupied by scenes of a prayer service, and groups of hungry ghosts and spirits of the dead, and a few everyday scenes. The harmony created by the well-organized composition, the use of mild colors, and the elaborate depiction of palatial buildings and human figures engaged in various activities produce a solemn atmosphere befitting of a religious painting. In view of the work’s artistic merit and the existence of detailed background information about its production date, place of enshrinement, and the names of the people who financed and participated in its production, it is widely regarded as an important resource for the study of Korean Buddhist paintings of the eighteenth century.