Borders Project #1

Of particular interest within the topic of borders is the theme of Europeans who had portraits painted with their African servants. The painting specifically that sparked my interest in this topic is The Duchess of Portsmouth by Pierre Mignard.  The image itself can be interpreted in any number of ways upon first appearance, which is part of what makes it such an interesting piece of scholarly study. The woman looks affectionate towards the young African girl, however the picture alone lacks the answers to what their relationship is. One cannot say whether this is a loving relationship, or just the common relationship between an African servant and white master. The intention of creating such portraits is easy enough to interpret within European historical context as being a symbol of status, as portraits were not only popular at the time in of themselves, but also a method by which people were able to cultivate an image that they wanted to portray to people. The impression that I had the first time I looked at this portrait was that in trying to maximize the extent to which her skin looked white, this would have been an easy method of doing so. This seems to be a common theme amongst European art, since pale skin was a sign of beauty, of trying to make one’s skin look as pale as possible. Also, that she was most likely trying to show off the degree of her wealth and power in being able to own a child servant of African descent. The ambiguity of the relationship portrayed though in not only this particular portrait, but in others as well, is why I became particularly intrigued by this recurring theme.

Generally though, there is a deeper meaning that relates to the idea of borders that I hope to look deeper in to within the scope of this borders project. It is the idea of trying to better understand the roles and thoughts of the Europeans and Africans within the portraits and create a story of how these people would have interacted. The first time I remember seeing The Duchess of Portsmouth, I distinctly remember pontificating upon the idea of what the African girl must have been thinking and feeling at that time. Assuming that she had been taken from her home across borders to Europe, a vastly different place than anywhere she could have called home originally, could she have been containing sadness, or could she possibly have been pleased to be in the care of a European? I plan on looking at a variety of different examples upon this theme and with more research being able to fill in the gaps of these questions. I start off with the general assumption that Europeans commissioned these paintings in order to convey prestige and utilize their African servants as prized “possessions” to be showcased in order to better their images within society. I would like to learn whether this is a fair assumption, and better understand the answers to the questions that I have regarding how relations are portrayed within these portraits.