Visible Lives: Black Gondoliers and Other Black Africans in Renaissance Venice*
| Autor: | K. J. P. Lowe |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
History
Painting White (horse) Literature and Literary Theory Visual Arts and Performing Arts Black african media_common.quotation_subject The Renaissance 06 humanities and the arts Ancient history 060401 art practice history & theory 060202 literary studies Diaspora Documentary evidence 0602 languages and literature Institution 0604 arts media_common |
| Zdroj: | Renaissance Quarterly. 66:412-452 |
| ISSN: | 1935-0236 0034-4338 |
| DOI: | 10.1086/671583 |
| Popis: | This article contributes to the study of the early sub-Saharan African diaspora in Europe by analyzing both visual and documentary evidence relating to black gondoliers in Renaissance Venice. Gondolas and gondoliers were iconic features in fifteenth-century Venice, yet most gondoliers were not Venetian. Although black Africans were highly visible in a predominantly white society, naming practices and linguistic usages rendered them virtually invisible in the documentary sources. It is now possible not only to investigate representations of black gondoliers in paintings, but also to identify black gondoliers in the lists of gondoliers’ associations and in criminal records. Slavery was an accepted institution in late medieval Italy, and nearly all black Africans arrived in Venice as slaves, yet usually ended their lives free. Being a gondolier gave a few black Africans a niche occupation that allowed them to manage their transition to freedom, and to integrate successfully into Venetian society. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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