Revealing the African Presence: Introduction

Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe invites visitors to explore the varied roles and societal contributions of Africans and their descendants in Renaissance Europe as revealed in compelling paintings, drawings, sculpture, and printed books of the period. The story of the Renaissance with its renewed focus on the individual is often told, but this project seeks a different perspective, to understand the period in terms of individuals of African ancestry, whom we encounter in arresting portrayals from life, testifying to the Renaissance adage that portraiture magically makes the absent present.

Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe, page 7