1525-30 – Jan Jansz Mostaert, Portrait of a Black Man
Deciphering Jan Jansz Mostaert’s Portrait of an African Man reveals the presence of Black bodies within European court circles and hints at their position within them.
Category: BIPOC
1583/5 – Annibale Carracci, Portrait of a Woman Holding a Clock
This 16th-century portrait attributed to Annibale Carracci is valuable for its realistic depiction of a Black sitter, possibly a seamstress, who is dressed in a fine but sensible black day dress with touches of Italian luxury.
1643 – J. Beckx, Portrait of Diego Bemba
Diego Bemba’s 1643 portrait, along with those of Pedro Sunda and Miguel de Castro, represents an early example of cultural exchange in which African ambassadors donning European costume in order to project a carefully curated image of cultural capital.
1650 – Diego Velázquez, Juan de Pareja
This dignified portrait by Diego Velázquez depicts his enslaved Black assistant, Juan de Pareja, who was a skilled artist in his own right.
1750 – Stephen Slaughter, Two Women Gathering Fruit
This painting of two 18th-century gentlewomen features fashionable trends in portraiture and clothing, including Orientalism, pastoralism, and masculine-inspired dress.
1770-96 – Agostino Brunias, Free Women of Color with Their Children and Servants in a Landscape
In a late 18th-century painting organized by skin tone, Agostino Brunias has depicted a range of colonial Dominican fashions from the wealthy elite to the poorest people whom they enslaved.
1770s – Portrait of a Lady Holding an Orange Blossom
This young woman dressed in blue silk edged with lace demonstrates fashionable simplicity for the 1770s and may have lived in the bustling port city of Amsterdam.
1778 – David Martin, Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and Lady Elizabeth Murray
This 18th-century grand manner portrait of two cousins juxtaposes fashionable turquerie with luxurious but conventional children’s clothing.
1785 – Marie-Victoire Lemoine, Portrait of a Youth in an Embroidered Vest
The young man in this portrait, dressed in formal French aristocratic style, represents the final flourish (or last gasp?) of the ancien régime in the last years before the French Revolution.
1787-9 – Alexandre-August Robineau, The Fencing-Match between the Chevalier de Saint-George and the Chevalier d’Eon
This 18th-century painting commemorates an historic fencing match between two French knights: one an illegitimate Black nobleman and the other a gender nonconforming spy.
1797 – Anne-Louis Girodet, Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley
This important painting of a Black Haitian deputy, once enslaved, commemorates his participation in the assembly that abolished slavery in France in 1794. He wears the tricolored uniform of a deputy of the French National Convention and only his gold earring speaks to his Colonial ties.
1818-1907 – Elizabeth Keckley
Elizabeth Keckley, a remarkably successful dressmaker, built her career upon exacting technical standards, graceful clean lines, and an understanding of Parisian fashionable trends. She is well known for her work for the political elite of Washington DC, particularly for Mary Todd Lincoln. Keckley was one of the first African American women to publish a book and was an impassioned activist who created a relief organization for newly freed enslaved persons.
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