16 THE CAROLINA TIMES
SAT., MARCH 21,1981
The Blacks In Western Art: A Changing Image
By Clarissa Myrick
Smithsonian News Service
A 12th-century mural at
the Collegiate Church of
San Isidore in Leon,
Spain, portrays a pious
Saint - Martin praying
fervently to resist the
temptation of a
"demon." The evil spirit
is represented as a black
child.
Asculpturc created a
century later for the
Cathedral of Notre Dame
in France depicts a white
Queen of Sheba standing
regally, on the back of a
crouching black man.
These and other art
works of the Western
world reveal that some of
history's most negative
images of black people
can be found in the
Western European art of
the Middle Ages. Some
historians 1 believe the
negative views of blacks!
held r in the medieval!
Western world and
reflected in the art work of
the time formed the basis
for the racial intolerance'
of later centuries.
Western artists,,
however, had not always;
painted biased portraits of
black Africans. In par
ticular, the art of ancient
Greece and Rome contains
some of the most positive ,
and realistic images of
blacks.
The art of Greece and
Rome, according to Dr.
Frank Snowden, a pro
fessor of Classics at
Howard University in ,
Washington, D.C., shows i
that although the people
of antiquity were not col-.
orblind.'they never bas-;
ed their judgment of a
man on his skin color."
Examples of the ways
blacks were portrayed
during antiquity, the Mid-1
die Ages and the;
Renaissance are featured
in a Smithsonian Institu
tion Traveling Exhibition
Servicrshow based on the
photographs assembled in
The Image of the Black in
Westetn Art, published by
the Menil Foundation of
Houston, Texas.
"This art shows us that
many of the prejudices of
today were not held in the
early -"centuries of thej
Western world," Warren
Robbing, director of the:
Smithsonian'' s Museum Of .
African Art, says. "It
shows. too that the racial '
intolerance that first in
fested the Western world
in medieval times was
primarily the result of ig-
norarice."
Unlike the medieval ;
Western Europeans, the
Greeks, and Romans had
been "in contact with
Africans for hundreds of
years. As early as the
seventh century B.C.,
Greeks soldiers en-'
countered black military j
opponents in Egypt and in '.
. other North African coun-j
tries and as contingents of
armies ; invading Greece, t
These' Greek soldiers i
feared the military'
strength of African war-i
riors, but that fear didn't
turn into prejudice or
racisuUSnowden contends
in his book, Blacks in anti
quity. Nor- he continues, did
the prejudice and racism
found in later centuries
jaundice the eyes of
Greco-Roman artists.
While" visiting Africa,
many , Greek and Roman
artists followed the lead of
Egyptian artists and
painted, sculpted and
drew true-to-life images of '
black people.
These artists continued
to depict blacks in their art
when black Africans
began to migrate to
Greece and Rome as slaves ;
and free persons from 500
to 40GB.C.
The - artists were in
trigued bylhe challenge of
portraying this "new
racialiype," and many ex-;
perimented with various
techniques to depict aC-j
curately the physical'
characteristics of black'
people. To represent the
tightly.-' curled hair of
blacks, for instance, some
sculptors cut diamond'
shapes i in relief, other
sculpted spiral cones.
Foiir- centuries, Greek '
and Roman artists
featured images of black
members of the working
class and mythical African
characters on terra cotta
pottery; they captured the
images of black
statesmen, scholars and
entertainers in bronze and
marble statues and busts.
But the number of
positive and realistic por
, trayals of blacks dwindled
in the Middle Ages as
racial intolerance spread
through the Western
world. According to
historians, this prejudice
against blacks developed
primarily for two reasons,
First, in the Christian
teachings of medieval
Europe, the color black
symbolized evil. "From
the simplistic but readily
accepted idea that black is
the sign of death and
therefore sin, it was easy
to go on to the more
dangerous idea that the
man whose color was
black was a menace, a
temptation, a creature of
the Devil," French
historian Jean Divisse ex-'
plains in The Image of the
Black in Western Art.
Second, until the 15th cen
tury, Western Europeans
rarely came in contact
with black Africans whom
they nevertheless feared. ,
AH they knew were the
stories and rumors about;
blacks they had heard
from disgruntled soldiers
who fought against black
Africans, among the
Muslim troops during the
Crusades and from travel
ing merchants who occa
sionally glimpsed blacks
during their journeys.
Because of their religious
teachings, these soldiers .
and merchants believed
that black people were the
personification of evil.
Some medieval Euro
pean artists then projected
this fear in their art,
stereotyping blacks as ser
vants, infidels, demons
and executioners. An
eighth-century Roman
fresco that shows Christ
trampling a dark figure as
He descends into Limbo is
one of the earliest por
trayals of a black demon. :
And a 13th-century
sculpture over a portal of
the Cathedral of Notre
Dame in Paris is just one
of many art works depic
ting the black as execu
tioner. . .-
"Although positive im
ages v of blacks became
scarce in medieval
Europe, they did not,
however, become extinct.
The people of the Mediter
ranean countries, who had '
more contact with black
Africans than their nor
thern contemporaries,
were the first to offer
blacks a chance to im
prove their cultural stan
ding and their image.
"(Black people) were
allowed to move upward
in society on two condi
tions. They had to become
converts to one of the
monotheistic religions, 1
and they had to get rich or
demonstrate some ability,
entitling them to upward
movement," Devisse
writes.
Positive portraits of
blacks , did appear in
Western Europe later. In
the 13th century, for ex
ample, Saint Maurice, the
patron saint of the Holy
Roman Empire, suddenly
became black after cen
. turies of being depicted as
a white man.
Historians speculate
that in the mid-13th cen
tury, Frederick II,
emperor of the sprawling
and faltering Empire,
ordered the creation of the
first art works portraying
a black Saint Maurice,
.and: German' artists con-'
tinued to depict Saint
Maurice as a black man
until the 16th century.
During the same period,
the complexion of the
African Queen of Sheba
became as changeable asJ
the skin of a chameleon.:
Some medieval artists
depicted the Queen as a
white woman while others
portrayed her, more ac
curately perhaps, as a
black woman. And these
artists used the African
queen's visit to the
Hebrew King Solomon to
symbolize those who
chose to pass from
paganism to Christianity.
In the late 15th and ear
ly 16th centuries, the im
age of a black King
Balthasar, one of the three
Wise Men who carried
gifts to the infant Jesus,
became a popular theme
in the Western world. In
fact, Balthasar was the
most common black im
age projected in the art of
the period.
Art historians say that
the image of the black
King not only perpetuated
. the theme of the univer
sality of Chrisitianity, but
that it also reflected the
artists' and the public's
curiosity about "exotic",
worlds and unknown people-
' . .
However, the curiosity
of these early Renaissance
Westerners did not seem
to supplant general pre
judice against blacks.
Throughout the 15th and
16th centuries, Western
artists went on creating art
works which stereotyped
blacks as servants and in-
y Vn V '-V :
v I j ( v
k f . ?J
fidels. And, for the most
part, the positive images
of blacks were symbolic
portraits of black saints,
queens and kings.
During the early 16th
century, however, there
was at least one famous
artist who didn't always
use the stock images of
blacks in his works. While
visiting Flanders around
1 1508, German artist
Alhrecht; Durer drew
thoughtful portraits of the
black people he en
countered. "I did the por
trait in charcoal of Bran
dao, the factor's clerk, I
did the portrait of his
Moorish woman in silver
point," Durer wrote of
these drawings in the diary
he kept during his visit.
Like the ancient Greeks
and Romans, Durer based
his portrayal of blacks on
first-hand knowledge, not
rumors and superstition.
His simple, honest draw
ings show that, when he
looked at these black peo
ple, Durer did not see
stereotypes and .symbols,
he saw real human beings.
Smithsonian News Service Photo courtesy of
Menil FoundationHickey 4 Robertson, Houston
This vase detail of an Ethiopian warrior was created by the
Greek artist Exekias between 550 and 525 B.C. Greek artists,
inspired by Egyptian artists, often painted images of blacks
on. terra cotta pottery.
In the 13th century, St. Maurice, the patron saint of the Holy
Roman Empire, suddenly became black after centuries of
being depicted as a white man. This sandstone statue, carved
around 1250 A.D., was probably one of the first images of
the black saint. German artists continued to depict St.
Maurice as a black man until the 16th century.
Getting Smart
(Continued From Page 15)"
Geographical changes. The rate of poverty has risen in
the North and West, while falling in the South. The
greatest increases in poverty rates were among central
city minorities.
The elderly are in trouble. They account for much of
the decrease in official poverty rates during the 1970's
largely due to greater Social Security benefits but
most of the elderly who have 'moved out' of poverty
merely moved from a few hundred dollars below the
poverty line to a few hundred dollars above it.
The National Advisory Council on Economic Oppor
tunity's evaluation of the unemployment situation
revealed similar severe problems. The Council reviewed
the social costs of recession, inflation and energy shor
tages that characterized much of the 70's. It found in
creasing numbers of the unemployed were not nearly as
well insulated by unemployment insurance and other in
come support programs as the public generally assumes.
The Council, in fact, noted that only about half of the
jobless receive unemployment compensation, and large
numbers of unemployed persons receive no food stamps
or welfare benefits at all.
All Americans should feel proud of the gains we have
made in reducing poverty in the United States. We must
never forget that the eradication of poverty in the
United States is a worthy goal that can be realized. Let
us be careful not to turn our pride into shame.
Kiii ft --v.-'
if I y arrv-'''
t ml " v v "''
LV ; " iy 'i" -l J X'.. , ' f
Smithsonian News Service Photo courtesy of
British Museum, London
They call it
"The Overnight Wonder"
for constipation.
Are you uncomfortable with your laxative? Then meet
the little white pill they call 'The Overnight Wonder" Just
one pill at bedtime safely, surely stimulates your system's
own natural rhythm. Overflight. So in the morning, you're
back on the bright side. Comfortably! It s
a good feeling.
What is "The Overnight Wonder"?
Ex-Lax" Pills. That's right -pills from
Ex-Lax. Look for the white box.
Use only as directed.
Ijli
6 c TT1P
Smithsonian News Service Photo courtesy of
Menil FoundationHickey 4 Robertson, Houston
This depiction of a black King Balthasar, one of the three
pise Men, is a detail from "Adoration of the Magi," painted
Sy Hieronymus Bosch between 1490 and 1510 A.D.
tj " Kitchen tooli U m. " memo holders U J g J U 4
lv y tl (fit II mmm. Sears pricing policy . . . ff an item Is not described as reduced
W UkrJL KJ ENDS SATURDAY, MARCH 2 1 unlets otherwise rtated or 3 special purchase. It Is at its regular price. A special pur-
ammmammammtmmml chase though hot reduced, is an exceptional value.
' '
Pkg .of 3 soft white Long- YOUR CHOICE Corrugated Woodgraln Storage Accents U vnun runic
life light bulbs. 40. 60, 75 . , irt A.PASHCmi tmm . i. 4 drawer chest a. all purpose stackworw TUUKI,nui
or 100-watts. Bra base! .yp of0,M. p4m.x I2vtin. $C pm.iJln.7 $7 . 7 quart round wastebasket -
?OOVhn..r VST L I 75 Of lOOwattl !Tl3SlnJ B IJlnJ C. f COMPARTMENT CUTLERY TRAV fJt f I
lAAWOUrs. I K JUMBO STORAGE P. DRAWER SHELP D. PKG. OP 2 ICE CUBE TRAYS V jrt I
r I I CHlSTPinm.K "1 UNIT(l6iain.x $"B E. ( OUART COLANDER tfj I I
Pkg. of 3, 3-way Soft I I i;m.ii2mmj mm 12 im. x2zmj M . p. bath ano shower caddy II
White light bulbs .$2 pkg. II PnQ. c. jumbo underbeo g. 2 drawer pile g. bowl brush and holder set II
CHEST J7ln. tfa (13 12 In. Jt l S 9j LJ
ii)Min.'i m m.x2it2m m
fii H. THIS 4 THAT x
N, CZ (C Zi . . D. J DRAWER CHEST (jp ORGANIZER (8 I M In. T -T ; , "
A Jgj B fefl fec FrJ jlQB3 A.34-UterglassstorageJr $ '
hJ B. I -liter glass storage Jar f 25 lillllfel liiMi -
a. 28 ounce bowls . BfOLt'l iJkJ m co 24-plece deluxe e -T.
- Q C 1 lteralassstoragEjar f 50 flnHlne COlOr felt 7
B. 16 OUNCE TUMBLERS . . K VOf I I ( 75 ro So
iWB B J D.2-llter glass storage jar pen Set U
C. 12 OUNCE TUMBLERS ft QfT 1 I , , .. . $ Ask about Sears credit plans
J xf.,, E. 34lter glass storage Jar A
a b c d - YOUR CHOICE 4
a, 4 tier swing away YOUR CHOICE A I 1 12 BUSHEL OVAL A. Metal framed Jg Mm. mm $71
izsxs IJ&SSSS? C5) I ,napshop a forest .
cs tier deluxe slack rack l B. I 14 BUSHEL RECTANG- Vt 1 B. Deluxe metal SI S.
ISearsl
You can
count on
Satisfaction Guaranteed
or Your Money Back
SC ARS. ROEBUCK AND CO.
NORTHGATE MALL
Open Monday thru Saturday
9:3aA..M. til 9 P. M. ,
(24 Hr. Catalog Service)
Auto Center Hours '
9:00 A.M. tU 9:00 P.M.