October 8, 2020

6:30 PM EST

Zoom Webinar

Note: if you would like to sign up for this remote lecture as a non-participating audience member, please use the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82131511373?pwd=SGw4anhXSXJhZkhvVm5IWERXbHBnUT09

Imaging Africans in the Dutch Republic: Although the portrayal of Africans in Dutch art can be tied to the flourishing Dutch slave trade during the seventeenth century the equation is not one-to-one. The situation is a bit more complicated than the art of the period would lead us to believe. At times, blacks in Dutch art were rendered in a relatively realistic manner yet at other times, their portrayal is caricatured and conventional. And all the while, the precious few black residents of the Dutch Republic could declare their freedom in a country that profited immensely from the slave trade but declared slavery illegal on the home front. As this lecture will demonstrate, it is best to approach the art and culture of the Dutch Republic with an understanding that matters are never straightforward and, in fact, can be considerably more complex and nuanced than meets the eye.

Download a flier in PDF format.