Toussaint L’Ouverture, Friedenstorer zu Domingo.

How does a person’s likeness travel the globe in an age before photography? By the turn of the 19th century, General Toussaint L’Ouverture (ca. 1743–1803) gained international renown as the leader of the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), the successful revolution against France by the island’s enslaved people. Both during his life and after his death, artists across Europe produced countless portraits of L’Ouverture, almost always relying on secondhand descriptions of his appearance. While some images play on racist stereotypes, others are notable for their depiction of L’Ouverture as a dignified and powerful statesman. These portraits are all the more revolutionary because they were disseminated during the age of transatlantic slavery, when any representation of Black military prowess was considered a threat to the fabric of white society.

Holding Division: Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

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