Peter Brathwaite, Rediscovering Black Portraiture. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Publications, 2023, 168 pp., numerous color ill.

Abstract

This might well be the most unusual book ever reviewed in our journal. Much of its material does not directly pertain to the Middle Ages, but there is enough documentation here to make it worthwhile for our consideration after all. The author, Peter Brathwaite, along with several collaborators, here presents his personal search for black individuals portrayed by many different artists from the Middle Ages to the present. He is certainly not the first to focus on this topic, but he adds a unique twist to it by presenting himself in a photo next to the original image re-enacting the pose by the person in the painting, surrounding himself with objects that copy those in the original. Brathwaite is a highly respected British opera singer, but he has also gained notoriety for his photos depicting Blacks. Spending time at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles during the Covid-19 period in 2020, he succeeded in accomplishing the project that fills the pages of this book.