Black Presence - III
The Portrait of Four Servants at the Medicean Court by Gabbiani and the role of those figures within the Court itself
Preserved in the Palatine Gallery of Pitti Palace, the painting by Anton Domenico Gabbiani represents "various portraits of some young men of barbaric nations, who were at the court of Grand Duke Cosimo III, that is, Moors, Tartars, Cossacks, etc., and among other servants we see a Dwarf, holding a plate with some fresh spinach leaves in his hands, which denotes his particular bias for reporting other people's affairs, at which he stood out above all the others". Thus the the painter's biographer described the work.
Justin Randolph Thompson, Director of Black History Month Florence, explains the role of these figures within the Medicean court and in particular the African character featured in the painting.
#BlackPresence
In collaboration with Black History Month Florence BHMF
