Why are there so few Blacks in western European art?

Question

http://jewelsnthejungle.blogspot.com/2007/03/african-history-in-europe-blacks-in.html

I found one example. does anybody know where I can find some more?

you people do realize that there plenty of Black people in medieval Europe. Enough that it stands to that there would be a painting here and there.

Answer 1

"you people do realize that there plenty of Black people in medieval Europe."
----You are exactly right! Believing the opposite just goes to show you how little education people have. Some folks must enjoy being ignorant. Europe has been home to blacks for a long time.

There were so many black people in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 that she, acting upon the fear that they might be taking jobs away from whites (and that they were 'infidels'), issued an edict demanding that they be expelled from the country. While it brought no action, it was followed by a 1601 Royal Proclamation. A Lubeck merchant, Caspar van Senden, was licensed to remove all "negroes and blackamoores".

Blacks figure into many aspects of European history. Alexander the Great had a great deal of respect for African religion. He went so far as to proclaim himself the son of the African god Amen. (Alexander the Great wearing the ram horns of Amen-- http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/1337/alexanderthegreatkw2.gif)

Blacks are a significant part of Greek mythology. There is a strong relationship between Greek and African deities. Andromeda, heroine of the Perseus myth-- BLACK. The sorceress Circe of the Odyssey-- BLACK. Memmnon, the mythical king of the Ethiopians-- BLACK. (Circe of the Odyssey offering a magic potion to Odysseus-- http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/7876/art1kw4.gif)

Spain was conquered by Islamic invaders, in 711AD, Among those invaders were Arabs, Berbers and West Africans (who Europeans would call Moors). The white establishment would have people to believe that all Moors were non-black. However, such is not the case. "Black" is included in the definition of Moor in many old dictionaries, which is why the word is often used for ***** and vice versa. What's more, Procopius, the sixth century Byzantine Greek historian, discribed a North African people by saying they were "not black-skinned like the Moors". After the Moors were expelled from Spain, many of them (of various races) settled in the Netherlands and France. There were numerous Moors at the court of King James IV. And, no, they were not all entertainers. There were some who held positions of status.

Allesandro De Medici, believed by many scholars to be the son of Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) and an African servant of the Medici household) was the first reigning Duke of Florence. Queen Charlotte Sophia, a direct descendent of Margarita de Castro y Sousa (a black branch of the Portuguese Royal House), was the wife of King George III. Her oldest son, Prince George of Wales, was named regent in 1812 and ascended the throne upon the death of his father in 1820. Saint Maurice (whose name translates as "like a Moor") was the leader of the Roman Theban Legion in the third century and is regarded as the greatest patron saint of the Holy Roman Empire. He.suffered martyrdom at Agaunum after he and his legion refused to sacrifice to the gods. Emperor Maximian ordered their slaughter. However, many scholars dispute the claim that all of the more than six thousand men were killed. There are numerous images and structures of, and dedicated to, Saint Maurice. (Saint Maurice-- http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4458/saintmauricedp8.jpg / http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/6575/stmauriceeh5.jpg)

I could continue, but I'll simply conclude by giving a short answer to the initial question-- intentional exclusion of blacks from history motivated by racism.


EDIT: If the above links don't work, try copying them into your browser. I'm having trouble clicking on them for some reason.

Answer 2

One reason is prob that there weren't many blacks in western Europe, but the biggest reason is that often any images of black ppl in any type of art were changed to depict European images.

This also applies to a lot of the ancient art that came from Africa which has altered to reflect European ancestry.

One good example is the Black Madonna that is still on display in many places. They tried to alter the image of this to look more European & when that didn't work they said the color of the Black Madonna and child were due to the materials that the artist had to work with at the time & that aging had caused those materials to turn dark.

This excerpt is taken from Wikipedia as one reason for the color:

Black Madonnas express a feminine power not fully conveyed by a pale-skinned Mary, who seems to symbolise gentler qualities like obedience and purity.

Interesting

Answer 3

Apparently you can't even ask a serious question on here without waking up all the racist pigs to have them throw their slop at you.

Being the Google-geek that I am, I readily found what appears to be everything you would ever need to know on your subject: a multi-volume tome titled _The Image of the Black in Western Art_. A few of many links referring to it are pasted below.

An excerpt from the Chronicle article (2nd link):
"Formally known as The Image of the Black in Western Art Research Project and Photo Archive, the collection comprises more than 25,000 photographs of images of blacks, spanning 5,000 years. It includes all artistic media except photography, and the artists represented include Albrecht Durer, Thomas Gainsborough, Winslow Homer, and Edgar Degas."

There's also another book whose cover is graced by your one example. See the last link below.

Answer 4

surely, there became a learn revealed some time past interior the nineteenth century that dealt with this concern. It suitable facials profiles and cranium systems to distinctive ethnic communities. sorry, i won't be able to undergo in innovations the identify. the merchandise became discredited in a while b/c it made too many assumptions and generalisations. i'm noticeably optimistic there r different, extra conclusive papers obtainable in spite of the undeniable fact that. For the main section, "Orientals" do look particularly comparable (beware with that be conscious... some particularly delicate communities frown upon it... somethin to do with the railways or mines). black/brown hair... many times quickly, almond formed eyes. as properly those good factors, i think of different attractiveness characteristics are as variable as Europeans. As a Fil-Can, it particularly is particularly undemanding for me to tell who's a Filipino and who isn't. in spite of the shown fact that, i won't be able to tell the version between Korean, jap, chinese language, Taiwanese, or Vietnamese if my life depended upon it. usual, i might say the version is extra diffused in Asians.

Answer 5

That just should not be a difficult thing to answer? Because very few blacks existed in western Europe at the time. Silly! Like saying why are there so few Antarcticans that are in Chinese literature?

Answer 6

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/medieval/hidden_histories_africans/index.html

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/medieval/hidden_histories_africans/medici/index.html

It was kind of quick but I figured this is what you where mentioning.

Answer 7

GUY FROM TOMORROW: VERY INTERESTING LINK.

Answer 8

because they don't live or belong there, duh!