After his death, many portraits were drawn of Saigo's face, a picture that became foundational (by Edoardo Chiossone) was a composition of around eyes from his brother, Judo, and also borrowed features from his cousin, Iwao OYAMA, and it is possible that Chiossone never met Saigo so the thin face pictured is in fact different from his face.
死後に西郷の顔だと言われる肖像画が多数描かれているが、基となった1枚の絵（エドアルド・キヨッソーネ作）は、弟・従道の目元に、がっしりしていた従弟・大山巌の顔つきを合成したものであり、キヨッソーネは西郷との面識が一切無かったことから、実際の彼の顔とは異なり細い顔であるという可能性もある。