Three Young White Men and a Black Woman - by Christiaen van Couwenbergh (1632)
10 comments
tf is going on here
Considering the time period, the women ethnicity, and what history tells us about what happened to female slaves, it is what it seems to depict : the rape of a black woman.
Also note that the bed sheets become death's robe below her and a boney hand is visible. The artist probably meant it to be macabre.
It's hard to imagine someone painting this/that expression on her face and finding the subject matter acceptable. Or so I like to think? Maybe I'm naive. But if it's true, it's a great example of powerful art confronting viewers. Or I suppose that's true either way, for better or worse.
tf is going on here
Considering the time period, the women ethnicity, and what history tells us about what happened to female slaves, it is what it seems to depict : the rape of a black woman.
Also note that the bed sheets become death's robe below her and a boney hand is visible. The artist probably meant it to be macabre.
It's hard to imagine someone painting this/that expression on her face and finding the subject matter acceptable. Or so I like to think? Maybe I'm naive. But if it's true, it's a great example of powerful art confronting viewers. Or I suppose that's true either way, for better or worse.