On 13 January 2016, art historian professor Beatrix Mesci of ELTE University, Budapest, provided insight into her research on historic portraits of Korean beauties, more specifically on a mid-19th century portrait of a “Beauty with a Mouth Organ”, in a lecture entitled “The Secret of a Late Chosŏn Beauty Portrait from Budapest.” Through her analysis of the portrait – which, she theorized, could depict Kyewŏrhyang, a Chosŏn kisaeng famed for her fervent patriotism - professor Mesci demonstrated the considerable extent to which Korean arts of the Chosŏn period were influenced by Neo-Confucian thought.

(Unknown painter [follower of Shin Yunbok]: Beauty with a Mouth Organ. Mid-19th century, colours and ink on paper, 111,5 x 50 cm, Ferenc Hopp Museum of East Asian Arts [formerly in the private collection of Lajos Kozma] [courtesy of the Ferenc Hopp Museum])