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Gallery

Black people in European art

Black people have been portrayed in European art for centuries - often exoticised, subjugated and minoritised - reflecting that these depictions were made by white artists. [Content warning: some of these artworks' descriptions of people are outdated, derogatory and racist.]

Curated by

Published gallery

Thomas Hees with his Nephews Jan and Andries Hees and a Servant

Rijksmuseum

Portret van Laura de' Dianti

Rijksmuseum

Portrait of an African Man (Christophle le More?)

Rijksmuseum

A Coastal Ruin in Italy

Rijksmuseum

Hoofd van een zwarte jongeman met tulband met veren

Rijksmuseum

Portret van een zwarte jonge vrouw met kanten hoofdkapje en bijpassende kraag

Rijksmuseum

Posthumous Portrait of Mary I Stuart (1631- 1660) with a Servant

Adriaen Hanneman

Mauritshuis

Ehrenstrahl, David Klöcker

Nordic Museum Foundation

Vanaise, Gustave

M Leuven

[Unpublished item]

Family group with a black man

Rijksmuseum

Young Woman with a Fan

Rijksmuseum

Portret van een zwarte jongen

Rijksmuseum

Reclining Female Nude, known as ‘La Négresse couchée’

Rijksmuseum

Portrait of Maria of Orange (1642-1688), with Hendrik van Zuijlestein (d. 1673) and a Serv…

Jan Mijtens

Mauritshuis

Berki Viola (1932-2001)

Thorma János Museum - Kiskunhalas

Néger férfi portréja

Bodor Miklós (1925-2010)

Thorma János Museum - Kiskunhalas

Sketch of Tom, the negro servant of Sir Robt Lawries

Royal Museums Greenwich

Breda, Carl Fredrik von

Nordic Museum Foundation

[Unpublished item]

The London Dentist, R. Dighton, coloured Mezzotint, 1784.

Robert Dighton

Wellcome Collection

Portrait of Jan Valckenburgh

Rijksmuseum

Egyptisk flicka från Nubien

Vänersborgs museum

Portret van een zwarte jongen

Rijksmuseum

Portret van zwarte vrouw met parelketting

Rijksmuseum

Buste van een donkere man

Rijksmuseum

Family Group in a Landscape

MTB-PE-350

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Head of a Negro

Glyn PHILPOT

Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

A surgeon and his black slave. Oil painting, 1780.

Wellcome Collection

A Man Wearing a Turban and Armour

31140_person

National Gallery of Denmark

Head of an African

1634_person

National Gallery of Denmark

Diego Bemba, a Servant of Dom Miguel de Castro

34293_person; 22277_person; 1651_person

National Gallery of Denmark

Portrait of an African

Albrecht Dürer (artist)

Albertina

Pedro Sunda, a Servant of Dom Miguel de Castro

33991_person; 22277_person; 1651_person

National Gallery of Denmark

Zwei Ägypter, der eine aus der Nähe von Philae, der andere ein Bischari-Beduine aus der Ge…

Rudolf Swoboda (artist)

Albertina