This lecture traces the beginnings of the abolition of slavery through the eyes of Dido Elizabeth Belle a black woman living in Kenwood House in the late 18th century. Leslie and talks about the only known portrait of her painted by Johann Zoffany (pictured below).
What made her so different from other blacks living in London at this time, how did Dido come to live re traces the beginnings of the abolition of slavery through the eyes of Dido Elizabeth Belle a black woman living in Kenwood House in the late 18th century at such a grand house at the height of slavery in Britain, what exactly was her status and how was she treated?
This lecture will include images by artists such as Joshua Reynolds and William Turner. Looking at their work in the context of abolition and the first stirrings of the Anti-Slavery movement in Britain.
A while ago I saw the film ‘Belle’ which tells the story of Dido Elizabeth Belle. The inspiration for this film was a portrait, showing Lady Elizabeth Murray and what was originally thought to be a black servant girl. However, in the 1980s it was realised that the black girl in the picture had much higher status than that. In fact, she was Lady Elizabeth’s cousin, daughter of Captain John Lindsay. Dido’s mother was a slave. Dido was brought to live with her childless uncle and aunt at the age of around five. The family she lived with were a noble family, which gave Dido a unique status in society.
About the Lecturer
Leslie Primo is a graduate with a degree in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck, University College, London. During his studies he specialised in early Medieval and Renaissance studies, including: Italian Renaissance Drawing; Art and Architecture in Europe 1250-1400; Art and Architecture in Europe 1400-1500; Medici and Patronage; Narrative Painting in the Age of Giotto; the work of Peter Paul Rubens, focusing on his paintings of the Judgement of Paris; and Greek Myth in paintings.
Leslie has worked at the National Gallery in London for 15 years, and has also taught a variety of art history courses at Reading University, including: Medieval to Renaissance (a survey course); Reading Pictures – The Hidden Stories in Art (a course on iconography); and Masters of the Renaissance – Leonardo and Michelangelo.