Maggie Knapp

Romans would have had no trouble identifying the light-skinned, elephant cap-wearing figure as a personification of Africa; she fit in with their iconography. We should remember that Roman ideas of race and continents differed from modern ones, and try to keep our own from coloring interpretations.

This misidentification--in the face of comparative iconography suggesting otherwise--seems to be the result of modern associations creeping in. While identifying the two women on the left as "attendants" is imperfect and their identities are still unclear, it seems to be an important correction.

"quella dell'Africa è data, ancora oggi, come sicura per gli attributi che la caratterizzano (la pelle scura e l'oggetto di avorio che tiene in mano)" (cat. 118, p. 278).
However, plenty of Roman depictions of Africa give her light skin (like the above mosaic). Ivory can also be sourced from Asia.

Despite clear iconographic parallels, people still misidentify the dark-skinned woman as Africa. The recent MANN catalogue raisonne of painting (La Pittura Pompeiana 2022) writes that while the identification of Europe is tenuous, that of Africa still holds because of her dark skin and ivory object:

Mosaic of a bust. The woman has light skin, tight curls or dreadlocks of brown hair, wide eyes, and a prominent nose. She wears a cap with elephant ears and trunk.

In Roman iconography, personified Africa often wears tight curls and an elephant cap, as in this mosaic from El Jem, Tunisia. Knowing that, it makes little sense to identify the figure in the mosaic as Asia--except to shoehorn an identification of the dark-skinned woman on the left as Africa.

Close-up of three women on the left (attendants and Dido)

Close-up of woman with elephant hat (Africa)

In that view, the women are Africa, holding an ivory rhyton; Europe, fanning throned Alexandria; and Asia, wearing the elephant cap. This interpretation neatly identifies all characters, but on further interrogation it is based mainly on modern ideas of race and continents, not Roman iconography.

The fresco has not always been interpreted this way, and there are debates over the identification of the two figures on the left. Older interpretations (e.g. Elia 1932) saw figures of three continents (Africa, Europe, and Asia) flanking an enthroned personification of Alexandria.

Fresco with 4 women in the foreground and a ship on the sea in the background. Left to right, the figures are a woman with dark skin who wears a light purple dress and holds a large ivory rhyton in both hands; a woman slightly to the back, with light skin who holds up a fan for the woman next to her; the central figure, a light-skinned woman wearing an off-white dress and sitting on a throne draped in blue fabric; and, slightly removed from the other three, a woman with light skin who wears a yellow dress with red stripes and a hat with elephant ears, trunk, and tusks. The woman with the elephant hat props her right elbow on a stand and holds her arm up to her head, her pointer and middle finger resting on her temple.

Dido Abandoned by Aeneas, fresco, 1st c CE, Casa di Meleagro, Pompeii
Dido, Queen of Carthage, sits on a throne between two attendants and the personification of Africa while Aeneas sails away in the background.
#AncientBlackness
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli 8898

Portrait of a Child (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection) Portrait of a Child (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection); A.D. 150–200; Unknown; Marble; Object: 22 × 20.3 × 19.1 cm (8 11/16 × 8 × 7 1/2 in.); 71.AA.462

www.getty.edu/art/collecti...

We can't give conclusive identifications for this portrait--but we should remember the possibilities in an empire as vast as 2nd c Rome.

See this December 2020 Getty post by Paula Gaither which reflects on the complexities of identification and museum language: www.getty.edu/news/rethink...

His age and historical context makes this even more difficult. His facial features--a round face, full lips, small nose, and wide eyes--are common in depictions of toddlers. His tightly curled hair fits in with the Antonine period.

The Getty also notes that no traces of paint are known for this portrait.
Without archaeological, epigraphic, or scientific evidence to clarify possible identities, we are left to rely only on his features. This approach can be faulty, and risks stereotyping or overgeneralizing.

This works lacks a provenance record (acquired from Robin Symes, 1971), let alone findspot data. As a result, we do not have a possible origin point for the portrait, nor do we have the rest of his body, where clothing or an inscription could provide hints to his ethnic and racial identity.

White marble portrait head of a young boy. He has short, bouncy curls, a rounded face, large eyes with drilled pupils, a small nose and full lips. He looks up off to the viewer's left, and his mouth has the hint of a twist.

Portrait of a Child, Roman, marble, c. 150-200
This tender portrait could depict a toddler with Black African ancestry--but the lack of information about the portrait complicates possible identifications.
#AncientBlackness

Getty Villa 71.AA.462

Funerary Portrait of a Woman

art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/1903...

In addition, the high quality of the portrait and her adoption of a hairstyle fashionable in Rome speak to her socioeconomic status: Elizabeth Bartman (2011) suggested she could be a member of the local elite.

As a result, the curls not only demonstrate her wealth, but could also suggest an African identity or ancestry. Her portrait stands as a testament to the interconnectedness of Alexandria: an African city with a Greek/Macedonian past under Roman rule, where many people likely had mixed identities.

Black marble head of man. He has a tall forehead, rounded eyes, and full lips. His hair has tight curls or locks, each roughly an inch long.

This head, thought to depict a Nubian man, shows the characteristic curls which the Nelson-Atkins portrait seems to reference.

Brooklyn Museum 70.59

White marble bust of a woman on a black background. She has high cheekbones, thin eyebrows, a straight nose with slightly flared nostrils, and full lips. Her hair is piled high with curls: the ones at the center of her face turn to face forward, and the ones on either side of her face turn and lean away.

Funerary Portrait of a Woman, Roman, marble, c.120-30CE.
Said to be from Alexandria, this portrait features a variation on the "beehive" hairstyle: her curls on the side fall away from her face as ringlets in the style of the curls of Isis or personified Africa. #AncientBlackness
Nelson-Atkins 48-9

Head of a young man Head of a young man slightly turned to the left, carved for insertion in a body. Some facial features and the thick, curly hair have led some scholars to believe that …

collections.mfa.org/objects/1513...

Sculpted portrait of a young man. He has short, tightly curled hair, a gently rounded face, and close-set almond eyes. His nose is completely broken off, and despite damage it is clear that he had full lips.

Head of a young man, Roman, Pentelic marble, c. first half of 1st c. CE. Based on the hair and facial features, it has been suggested that he may have been of North African descent.
MFA Boston 88.643
#AncientBlackness

Photo of 5 dog figurines in profile facing to the left in a staggered line. The closest one is reddish, the three in the middle are beige, and the furthest is dark grey. Each one has a cuneiform inscription on their side.

For anyone wondering, some possible dog names have survived from cuneiform sources.

On tiny dog figurines found buried under a palace in Nineveh, Iraq are inscriptions that seem to be names.

dan rigiššu “loud is his bark”

munaššiku gārîšu “biter of his foe”

mušēṣi lemnūti “expeller of evil”

Cross stitch work in a vertical oval shape. Within a dark green background, a woman with her back to the viewer wears a yellow dress with white cloak, holds a light green cornucopia with a few flowers, and stretches her right hand out to pluck another off of the thin, branchy plant next to her with white and yellow blossoms.

The same cross stitch piece, being held out next to a wall where there is a postcard of the Flora fresco from Pompeii, on which the cross stitch is based.

The result of multiple New Orleans snowdays: new Flora fresco cross stitch 🌼❇️🪡

Closeup of the golden Helmet of Coțofenești from Romania. It has large raised circular nubs and two eyes in relief on the brow. In shape it’s close-fitting to the head and drapes down the sides and back.

Horrific news out of Assen, Netherlands. Thieves used explosives to access the Drents Museum and made off with several antiquities from ‘Dacia – Empire of Gold and Silver’, including the masterpiece the golden Helmet of Coțofenești, c. 450 BCE, a loan from the National History Museum of Romania. 🏺 😡