
Europeans have had opportunities to see Africans ever since antiquity, with Black people many times being depicted in Western art. Their images are found in a range of media, including paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints, and objects of decorative art. This class will survey some produced from the medieval period through the nineteenth century, displaying the many roles in which Black people have been visualized: notable individuals, heroes, holy personages, slaves and servants, subjects of abolitionist campaigns, and ordinary members of their societies.