Portrait of an African Man

Portrait of an African Man (Christophle le More?)
Dutch: Portret van een Afrikaanse man
See adjacent text.
ArtistJan Mostaert
Yearc. 1525–1530
TypeOil on oak
Dimensions30.8 cm × 21.2 cm (12.1 in × 8.3 in)
LocationRijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Portrait of an African Man (Dutch: Portret van een Afrikaanse man) also known as Portrait of a Moor (Dutch: Portret van een Moor) is a painting by the Dutch Renaissance painter Jan Mostaert. Mostaert probably made the painting between c. 1525 and 1530, or slightly earlier. The exact subject of the painting has long been unclear, although numerous ideas have been put forward, including that the depicted figure is a soldier, a nobleman or Saint Maurice. The portrait is significant in that it may portray the earliest surviving portrait of a specific black man in European painting,[1][2] though Saint Maurice, and Balthazar of the Three Kings or Biblical Magi, had long been usually portrayed as Africans.

  1. ^ Sosha Lemmen (1 February 2012). "Ambassadeurs van het christendom – De representatieve en (politiek-)missionaire functies van portretten van zwarte mannen en vrouwen uit de 16de en vroege 17de eeuw" (in Dutch). hdl:1874/251873. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Portrait of an African Man (Christophle le More?), Jan Jansz Mostaert, c. 1525 – c. 1530". Rijksstudio. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

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