Portrait of a wealthy African living in Europe in the 1500s presents a puzzle

[Recursion]

Last edited Mon Oct 7, 2013, 01:41 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-wealthy-african-20130925,0,6560618.story

EDIT: the article says both "1600s" and "1530" as a date, so I'm not clear which one it is, though from the style I'd guess 1530. Maybe they meant "16th century"?

He is richly dressed, which clearly makes him a person of some importance. There weren't a lot of black people living in Europe in the 1600s, and even fewer displayed, as this man does, signs of princely favor. It's even more unusual that he was singled out for a painting of his own instead of being included as part of a larger group.

...

The painting in a circular frame is titled "Portrait of a Wealthy African" and is on loan at the Walters through June, 2014. It is thought to have been painted in the 1530s by an unknown artist who is either Flemish or German.

The artwork was featured in the Walters' recent exhibition, "Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe," which Spicer curated.

The portrait, she says, is full of informative details: The elaborate gold chain around the man's neck often was a gift from a royal ruler for service at court. The pearl earring suggests that the man was born in Africa and was holding on to a remnant from his youth.

[kestrel91316]

1. Probably Moorish, so had generations of family exposed to European culture.

I don't know why anybody would be surprised that there were wealthy Africans. And THEY would be the Africans most likely to freely travel abroad and settle in far places. Because they had the means.

They didn't all live in mud huts.

[Recursion]

2. Wealthy African people aren't surprising per se, but one working in a European court is

Especially when you think of what Spain was doing at the time with their Moorish population

[JDPriestly]

11. We hear a lot about the Crusades, but in fact, think about it, Constantinople was the seat of the

Christian Church. The Turks invaded, took control of Turkey and the Eastern Roman Empire which was Christian and then invaded Greece, etc.

Other North Africans, including Arabs invaded Southern Europe beginning sometime after Mohammed's appearance, after the 7th century. In Italy they reached all the way to the door of the Vatican.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Yeah, wasn't Othello supposed to be a Moor?

I mean, I paid at least that much attention to my Shakespeare.

[Recursion]

10. He wrote the Merchant of Venice when there were no Jews living (legally at least) in England

They were still banned from the country, though there's evidence there were a few in Elizabeth I's court, so he could well have met a Jewish person.

[Nevernose]

3. There were between 15k and 35k black people in London ~1600

Not Moors, either, but slaves and the freed descendants of slaves. The first African slave taken to England was in 1483, a man purchased by Jim (or John or something like that) Hawkins from a Portuguese trader. The Portuguese had already been involved in the slave trade for fifty years by at point. I imagine that between Spanish Moors and "imported" sub-Saharan Africans, they would have been uncommon but certainly not unheard of.

Most English professors get oddly upset when I mention it, but that's why I think Shakespeare wrote so very many roles for "Moors" I his plays: at least one actor in his company was of African descent.

[Recursion]

4. Cool

I had no idea there were that many. It's interesting to think of Othello or Caliban being written for a black actor.

EDIT: Also the article isn't clear; it says both "1530" and "1600s". There's a huge difference (eg, an entire Reformation) between them.

[Retrograde]

5. European religious art typically shows one of the Magi as African

(except for Florentine artists, but there's a political reason for this) so they must have had at least a passing acquaintance with people from Africa. And there was trade going on, especially around the Mediterranean.

Our ancestors were more interesting than we usually think!

[Scootaloo]

6. Not terribly surprising, really

European anti-black bigotry took a while to develop, and was mostly a product of Americna slavery and African colonialism. Earlier, Africans were just people with dark complexions - the important question of the time was whether they were "Civilized" (Christians) "Heathens" (Muslims) or "Savages." (none of the above)

[Recursion]

8. Slavery of Africans had been practiced in Spain and Portugal for over 100 years at this point

And Spain had recently kicked out all Jews and Muslims

[zentrum]

9. It doesn't look like it was done by

...one of best artists. The details lack that renaissance master touch that even the lesser artists of the day had. Not sure what that means as a clue but it seems to me to not be one of the "expensive" artists of the day.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

13. It looks like it was done by two artists with different skill sets. The gold chain doesn't seem to

have the same realism. Too symmetrical.

[Hekate]

12. Africa is a very big continent, a big portion bordering the Mediterranean Sea

There has been contact around that region for millennia. Trade routes for all kinds of valuable goods have been well established by sea.

But as regards this gentleman, he may have been a merchant on a business trip who commissioned a portrait of himself. Or perhaps the artist was intrigued by his exotic looks and asked for a sitting. Researchers might be able to hazard a guess as to his home region by his cast of features, as well as probable business that might have brought him to The Lowlands from there.

Very interesting!