Buddhism has been an important source of Korean traditional culture and spiritual development since it settled down in ancient Korea. The influence of Buddhism can be traced not only to the remaining sculptures like towers or statues of the Buddha, but also to various patterns or seasonal customs. Amid this Buddhist tradition were High Priests who had taught and practiced Dharma, the basic principles of cosmic or individual existence. The High Priests' spiritual power has been a driving force of the thriving Buddhist culture and also the mainstream of Korean spiritual culture. Then what did High Priests look like and how were they described? We can meet them and satisfy our curiosity through High Priests' portraits. In Korean Buddhism where Zen plays a key role, High Priests' portraits have led their disciples and home-living believers to feel their teachers' presence and devote themselves to practicing asceticism. Additionally, High Priests' portraits help set up the religious tradition of preceding teachers and also strengthen the spiritual solidarity of believers. High Priests' portraits are presumed to date from ancient Korea, Unified Silla, when Buddhism was embraced in this country. According to historical records, High Priests' portraits began to be produced a lot in the late Unified Silla, when a Buddist temple, Seonamsa temple was constructed and portraits were likely to be painted there too. However, portraits were destroyed by fire or lost amid frequent wars, and they were also damaged through natural deterioration. Thus, the portraits that have survived to date in the original state seem to have been produced after the 17th century. Most subjects of portraits were builders or remodellers of Seonamsa temple or the monks of the temple who were respected and praised by later generations or who made great achievements in the history of Korean Buddhism. In addition, they enshrined symbolic figures of Korean Buddhism in Seonamsa temple, although they were not particularly related to the temple, in order to enhance the status of the temple, placing a high value on continuing the tradition of Korean Buddhism. At present, Seonamsa temple houses over 50 portraits in Jinyeongdang and Josadang. Particularly, Josadang has the portraits of High Priests who contributed to revitalizing Buddhism by playing a critical role in continuing the tradition of Dharma, which Buddha had passed down to Kasyapa, a Buddhist priest of eminent virtue, and travelled a long way to Seonamsa temple, Korea via China. This study investigates the history of Seonamsa temple and how High Priests' portraits were enshrined in the temple, and also traces the life of the monks enshrined in Josadang. Additionally, this study analyzes the symbolic and pictorial features of the portraits, which are not a simple picture but a token of faith that verifies the tradition of Buddhism that a monk passes down what he has received from his teacher to his disciple. The focus of analysis will go beyond description of portraits and examine the characters of the subjects of portraits and the essence of truth they attained.