Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Why Born Enslaved!
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux French
Not on view
This small version of Why Born Enslaved! is the original plaster model from which other reduced-scale replicas were produced. Carpeaux coated its surface with semitranslucent layers of umber pigment that suggest the appearance of brown skin. The replication and sale of Why Born Enslaved! in miniature echoes the commodification of people of African descent that took place under slavery, reflecting the Western desire to possess and contain the Black body. Yet the sculpture’s unusual depiction of an enslaved woman’s defiant strength has also contributed to its enduring appeal. Reproductions of Why Born Enslaved! continue to be made and sold today.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
