girljanitor:Jan MostaertPortrait of Moorish Nobleman1520s Oil on panel, 31 x 21 cm Rijksmuseum, Amst
girljanitor:Jan MostaertPortrait of Moorish Nobleman1520s Oil on panel, 31 x 21 cm Rijksmuseum, AmsterdamA lot of people have been asking for more information on sources for paintings I’ve been posting in this thread, so I thought I’d add some info on artists and subject, as such is available.The striking portrait to the right of a black African man dressed in the rich garb of a courtier, his visage composed and dignified, his elegantly gloved right had resting on the handle of his sword identifies him as a member of a court. It is a shame that at this point the contour of his figure is all that we know about this sixteenth century black man. Some context will at least bring us closer to knowing more about the particular individual who sat for Mostaert’s now famous Portrait of a Moor.Nobles of the Bakongo began travelling to Portugal as early as 1485, to meet and mingle with the court of the king of Portugal. King Nzinga a Nkuwu received baptism in May of 1491, taking the name of João (John).The reign of his son as King Nzinga Mbemba Afonso (1506-1543) is of interest to us. Though not likely the subject, his son’s story is instructive. Before he himself became a king, Afonso sent his son, Henrique (ca. 1495-ca.1526), along with other sons of noble Bakongo families to receive their educations in Lisbon at the College of Elói. Henrique became the first African bishop of the Catholic Church. He was by far the best student of those who came to study at Elói. After fifteen years of study in Lisbon as an excellent student in Latin and Theology, Afonso, on the advice of King Manuel l of Portugal (1495-1521), sent an embassy of Henrique as well as some Portuguese clerics of noble families, to Rome in March 1514 to request a dispensation from Pope Leo X that would allow Henrique to be made a bishop. At nineteen he was below the officially required age of thirty to be eligible for appointment to the office. Nonetheless, Leo granted the dispensation. Henrique then returned to Lisbon as Bishop of Utica (near ancient Carthage in North Africa) but never went there. He remained in Lisbon until 1521, when he returned to Kongo as its bishop. The clergy, and bishops among them, were the highest order of Portuguese society.Since Henrique was a man of the cloth rather than of the sword by the estimated period of Mostaert’s execution of the Portrait of a Moor, he was not likely the subject, although he would have been the best known African at court. But, I would argue that Henrique’s story demonstrates that Bakongo nobles were treated as honored equals at the Portuguese court at this time. Mostaert’s portrait then is arguably of a Bakongo noble.(source) -- source link