Black Horseman in Front of a Doorway

Unknown artist, c. 1855

Download2966 × 3400 px View on a wall Edit

Medium: Salt print from wet collodion negative
Size: Image: 15.5 x 13.5 cm (6 1/8 x 5 5/16 in.); Mounted: 47 x 30.6 cm (18 1/2 x 12 1/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Culture: France, 19th century
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

The genre of equestrian portraiture dates back to classical Greek and Roman antiquity, when it was used to depict rulers and suggest power and status. The uniform of the rider identifies him as a major in the Chasseurs d’Afrique (African Light Infantry), a cavalry group within France’s colonial army in Africa. By 1855, African people were living in France, so he may have been born and raised there or have been African-born and in France for training. This photograph may be one of the earliest photographic representations of a high-ranking Black military officer.