Rediscovering Black Portraiture

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter Brathwaite has thoughtfully researched and reimagined more than 100 artworks featuring portraits of Black sitters.

Join Peter on a beautifully illustrated journey through representations of Black subjects in Western art, from medieval Europe to the present day.

Artworks include The Adoration of the Magi by Georges Trubet, Rice n Peas by Sonia Boyce, Barack Obama by Kehind Wiley and many more.

An urgent and compelling exploration of embodiment, representation, and agency, Rediscovering Black Portraiture reminds us that Black subjects have been portrayed in art for nearly a millennium and their stories demand to be told.

These amazing images began as part of as part of the Getty Museum online challenge for re-creation of art works.

Peter Brathwaite is an acclaimed baritone and BBC Radio 3 presenter.

“These mirror images with their uncanny resemblances traverse space and time, spotlighting the black lives that have been silenced by the canon of western art, while also inviting us to interrogate the present.” - Times