[Thread] Orientalist paintings of "Black Moors", birth of a myth
In this thread, we will check if the paintings of Black Moors actually correspond to a credible source regarding the appearance of the Moors of the time.
We will also check where these paintings come from and if they are a reflection of reality.
These paintings of Black Moors are mainly used by Afrocentrists to serve their denialist ideology and appropriate the history of Moroccans, and more generally, of North Africans.
These paintings are the driving force behind the myth of the "Original Black Moor".
👇🏼
Their main goal is above all to appropriate the medieval (and therefore pre-medieval) history of Morocco, see the whole of the Maghreb.
Small clarification : The "whitewashing" argument will also be scanned in this thread.
To begin with, a recurring phenomenon often returns in these paintings and it demonstrates the deception of these.
A simple analysis can demonstrate this deception 🔍
See below Backhand with 👇🏼
The time when the phenomenon of "Black Moors" was popularized was mainly during the late nineteenth century. Via paintings by European orientalists.
In particular the paintings of Othello, the Moor of Venice (which date from the 19th century).
Below are paintings of the Moor named Othello, and what he was supposed to look like
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- Left, Painting of Othello by a French painter.
- Right, Painting of Othello by a Belgian painter.
- Left, Painting of Othello by a French painter.
- Right, Painting of Othello by a Italian painter.
- Left, Painting of Othello by a French painter.
- Right, Painting of Othello by a English painter.
- Left, Painting of Othello by a French painter.
- Right, Painting of Othello by a German painter.
- Left, Painting of Othello by a English painter.
- Right, Painting of Othello by a Dutch painter.
- Left, Painting of Othello by a Irish painter.
- Right, Painting of Othello by a English painter.
- Left, Painting of Othello by a English painter.
- Right, Painting of Othello by a Czech painter.
What one notices with these paintings is that the European painters do not agree on the appearance that this Moor should have.
Their paintings describe him as sometimes typified North African (left) and sometimes typed Sub-Saharan (right).
Except French paintings.
It is only the French painters who seem to have no doubts and almost always paint this Moor as being typically North African.
Who is right and who is wrong ?
It's simple, those who are right are the Europeans who were closest to the Moors of their time : the French.
Because at that time, the French were partially present in the Maghreb.
They knew the historical reality on the ground.
Where the Moor had become folklore in most of Europe, a legend without appearing place of the Sahara. Sometimes black, sometimes swarthy...
The French had them in front of them during battles or meetings.
Moreover, what inspired Shakespeare to create the fictional character "Othello" was Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, a Moorish ambassador from Morocco who came to England.
(Painting by him from the 1600s, at that time the majority of the English had never seen Moors before him)
These simple analyzes make it possible to understand that Othello was not intended to be portrayed as "Black".
Like the Moors, this disfigurement came later.
Most of the French painted the Moors exactly like the present day Moroccans / North Africans (19th century paintings).
Most other Europeans will tend to paint the Moors as Black, having little real knowledge about them.
Like those paintings of "Black Moors" who come back often (from Austrian and German painters).
As for "whitewashing", a painter himself Black, David Boilat, differentiates the Moors from the Blacks in his paintings.
This painter was born in 1814 in Saint-Louis, in the North of Senegal, therefore on the southernmost border of the "Moor Country".
Here are paintings of Moors according to David Boilat, himself Black and having lived near the Moorish Country :
- Moorish Prince of Trarza
- Young Moor Darmenkour
- Old Moor
- Princess Mooress
The Moors in his paintings are clearly differentiated from other Sub-Saharan ethnic groups:
Left = Moor / Right = Serer
Left = Moorish / Right = Wolof
Left = Moor / Right = Peul
Left = Moorish / Right = Mandinka
We can conclude that even in West Africa, the Moors were not portrayed as black.
The painter David Boilat was himself Black and lived alongside these Moors whom he painted himself.
But the best way to find out what the Moors looked like in the Middle Ages is to check out the medieval paintings depicting the Moors.
Below, will be listed paintings and frescoes depicting Moors dating from the 11th century and 12th - 13th century.
- Left : Don Rodrigo, the Visigoth.
- Right : Tariq Ibn Zyad, the Moor.
(12th century)
Moor chief giving instructions to his soldiers.
(12th - 13th century)
Contemporary portrayal of Ibn Hud, a 13th-century Moorish Emir, receiving petitioners.
(12th - 13th century)
Moors fishing by boat, off the coast of Andalusia.
(12th - 13th century)
Moors playing chess.
(12th - 13th century)
- Moorish soldiers breaking camp.
- Moor playing the lute alongside an Andalusian.
(13th century)
- Moorish warships.
- Moor catching a fish.
In the first photo we can see a Black man among the Moors.
In the second photo it looks like, sadly, Black captives / slaves begging a Moor for fish.
(12th - 13th century)
- The only contemporary image of Jacques I the Conqueror. The Moors ask permission from Jacques I of Aragon.
- Christians with their cattle enslaved by the Moors.
(13th century)
- Representation of Mohammed ben Nazar (nicknamed Al-'Ahmar), a Moorish King. The image describes the events of May 1264, during the Mudejar revolt.
- A Moorish warrior embraces his Castilian ally during the revolt.
(13th century)
Battle between Moors and Christians.
(13th century)
Paintings of the conquest of Mallorca by the Moors, circa 1285.
We can even see what appear to be Almoravid flags.
Paintings of the Nasrids in the Hall of the Kings at the Alhambra.
(14th century)
Forced conversion of the Moslem Moors from 1501, engraving of the cathedral of Granada from the 15th century.
We can still see a Black among the Moors.
Nautical chart depicting Abu Bakr Ben Omar, an 11th century Almoravid (left).
In addition, the map where Abu Bakr Ben Omar is represented in Black has no value since according to this same map, the Sudanese are White and the inhabitants of the Middle East are Black :
Ironic, there are other cards of the same kind that feature Mansa Musa in White, they are not really reliable :
Other medieval paintings of Moors:
- Moorish soldiers during the Battle of La Higueruela.
- Moorish rider.
The Hispanic Digital Library has among its collections an important German manuscript dating from the 16th century : The Codex of Costumes.
You can see the appearance and fashion of the inhabitants of various regions of the time.
Inhabitants of Barbary (Maghreb).
(With a Black servant on the side)
Illustration of Moors.
(With a Black servant on the side)
Moorish Horseman.
Illustration of the soldiers of Tunis and their King, in Barbary (Maghreb).
And finally, an Ottoman painting of Saadian Sultan Ahmed al-Mansour in the gardens of El Badi Palace in Marrakech, with locals working for him.
The sultans is accompanied by two Black servants and a Moroccan archer.
(17th century)
These frescoes and paintings are mainly taken from medieval sources and remains such as, among others, the Cantigas de Santa María (written during the reign of the King of Castile Alfonso X known as The Sage).
We can conclude that the true Medieval Moors were not blacks but typified Moroccans/North Africans, as now.
With a few blacks among them, as well as Andalusians, perhaps adopting their culture and way of life.
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