Bust of a Young Man
Bust
first half of eighteenth century (carved)
first half of eighteenth century (carved)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
In eighteenth-century Europe, Africans were usually portrayed as servants, or sometimes as personifications of the continent of Africa. In this portrait, he wears a typical servant’s tunic with frogged fastening in the Eastern European or Ottoman style. The personal nature of this piece suggests it was a specific portrayal rather than a generic depiction of an African servant and seems to be a sensitive portrait of an individual. Traces of red paint found on the lips add to the realism of the portrait. The bust is hollowed out behind and appears from the form of the lower part to have been originally designed for a circular niche.
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Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Bust of a Young Man (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Carved coloured marbles |
| Brief description | Bust, coloured marbles, of a black Youth, Italy (Venice), first half 18th century |
| Physical description | Marble bust of a youth wearing a tunic with frogged fastening decorated with glass buttons, some of which are replacements. The grey-black marble head has closely cropped hair and eyes inlaid with mother of pearl. The tunic is made from a pinkish-yellow marble and the bust is mounted on a 19th-century green marble socle. The bust is hollowed out behind, and at the back is an old metal ring for fixing. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | |
| Object history | The tunic worn by the subject represents the usual form of dress for a servant of the seventeenth or eighteenth century, suggesting that he belonged to this service role. Interestingly, he lacks the usual adornments of a servant or enslaved person, such as a collar, seen in other portraits of the period, reinforcing the likelihood that this is the portrayal of an individual. Purchased in Florence (Gagliardi) in 1869. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | In eighteenth-century Europe, Africans were usually portrayed as servants, or sometimes as personifications of the continent of Africa. In this portrait, he wears a typical servant’s tunic with frogged fastening in the Eastern European or Ottoman style. The personal nature of this piece suggests it was a specific portrayal rather than a generic depiction of an African servant and seems to be a sensitive portrait of an individual. Traces of red paint found on the lips add to the realism of the portrait. The bust is hollowed out behind and appears from the form of the lower part to have been originally designed for a circular niche. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 451-1869 |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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