HIDDEN FACES
UNTOLD STORIES
How did they come to Europe? Why were they portrayed? Were they truly all servants and slaves? If the Black faces portrayed in these Renaissance masterpieces could speak, what would they tell us?"
Portrait of Juan de Pareja, by Diego Velázquez, c. 1650
Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Portrait of an African Slave Woman, by Annibale Carracci, c. 1580s
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
The Kitchen Maid, by Diego Velázqez, c. 1620–1622 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Shot across iconic locations in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, England, the Netherlands, and Brazil, this multilingual documentary masterfully uncovers the overlooked African presence in 15th-16th century Europe. Through the voices of leading art historians, curators, and scholars, combined with gripping historical reenactments and cutting-edge 3D graphics, the film sheds light on a vibrant chapter of history often hidden in plain sight. A visually stunning and deeply insightful exploration, it brings to life the African figures immortalized in renowned artworks, offering a fresh, compelling perspective on Renaissance Europe.
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A King
Alessandro De' Medici
(aka The Moor; 1510-1537), was the first Duke to dominate Florence. The biological son of a greatly potent Medici and Simonetta da Collevecchio, an African slave. At the peak of the Renaissance, it is surprising to discover an Afro-Italian man governing a Western power, such as Florence. His presence sparks many queries, and it reveals the lights and shadows within the Renaissance. Papa Clemente VII’s support for Alessandro in his rise to power, despite the claims of his cousin and rival Ippolito de’ Medici, casts doubts on the Duke’s father’s real identity.
A Saint
Benedict the Moor
(Italian: Benedetto da San Fratello; 1524 –1589) was a Sicilian Franciscan friar who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic church. Born of enslaved Africans in San Fratello, he was freed at birth and became known for his charity. As a young man he joined a Franciscan-affiliated hermit group, of which he became the leader. In 1564 he was sent to the Franciscan friary in Palermo, where he continued good works. Benedict was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in 1743 and canonized in 1807 by Pope Pius VII.
A Knight
João de Sá Panasco
(1524–1567), was a black African in the employ of King John III of Portugal, who was eventually elevated from court jester to gentleman courtier of the Royal Household. In 1535, he accompanied the King's brother, Infante Luís, Duke of Beja, to northern Africa, where he was part of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's military campaign to conquer Tunis from the Ottomans. The important victory over the Turks made the King of Portugal award João de Sá exceptional honours: he was admitted to the prestigious Order of Saint James.
An Artist
(1607-1670) was a Spanish painter, born into slavery in Antequera, near Málaga, Spain. He is known primarily as a member of the household and workshop of painter Diego Velázquez, who freed him in 1650. His 1661 work The Calling of Saint Matthew is on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.
A Professor
Juan Latino
or Juan de Sesa (1518-15996) was an Afro-Hispanic poet in Renaissance Spain who taught at the Cathedral school in Granada and became famous for his epic Latin poems. He and his mother were slaves in the house of Doña Elvira, the daughter of Fernándo de Córdoba, the famous Spanish war hero.
A Diplomat
Antonio Emanuele Ne Vunda
(died 1608), also Antonio Manuel Nsaku ne Vunda (or Vunta or Funda) was an ambassador from the Central African Kingdom of Kongo to the Vatican, sent by the king of Kongo Alvaro II to Pope Paul V in 1604–1608. Ne Vunda traveled through Brazil and Spain and only reached Rome on 3 January 1608.