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#MuseumsUnlocked #Portraiture Most images of Africans in European art pre #C19 fall into one of two categories: servants, or so called “Blackamoors,” and legendary/ religious figures, like St. Maurice. Very little thought has been given to these images as portraits. 
It would admittedly be hard to link such images to individual sitters. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Scholars, for example, have identified historical actors who served as models for popular figures in #C18 #porcelain, such as Falstaff, as portrayed by James Quinn.
The #Meissen figurine that shows the „Blackamoor“ (a term that conflates an Arab or Muslim with a black African) was made for the Court of Augustus III in Dresden, where meticulous records were kept of everything. Surely there must be names of servants somewhere in a register?
