{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O16237"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O16237/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GU9395/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GU9395/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2013GU9395","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GU9396","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GU9397","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GU9398","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GP7240","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GU4921","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GU4920","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GP7241","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JY0108","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O16237/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O16237","accessionNumber":"451-1869","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"Bust of a Young Man","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This striking life-sized bust of a young man of African descent is carved in coloured marble; black marble for the head and yellow-pink marble for the tunic which is also ornated with Venetian glass buttons. Traces of red paint found on the lips added to the realism of the portrait, while the intensity of the young man’s gaze is accentuated by inserts of mother of pearl to represent the white of the eyes.\n\r\nThe bust was produced in Venice at the end of the 1600s or the beginning of the 1700s. It probably originated from Ca’ Rezzonico, an Aristocratic Venetian house, and may have been displayed in a circular niche or on a plinth. While the realism of this depiction indicates that it was modelled after a real individual, the identity of the sitter, the artist and the original context of the commission remain unknown.\n\r\nAt the time in Venice and in Europe more widely, depictions of people of African descent were often generalised, stereotypical portrayals of clearly enslaved individuals in positions of servitude, or sometimes personifications of the continent of Africa. This bust is unusual as it does not depict any clear markers of enslavement, such as jewellery, shackles, a collar, or a turban. The young man is however wearing a type of tunic was typical for servants at the time, with frogged fastening in the Eastern European or Ottoman style.\n\r\nPeople of African descent had been present in Venice since the Middle Ages, and would have almost entirely arrived in the city enslaved. They would have often worked in domestic service, which in Venice included being a gondolier. By the 1700s, only the wealthiest people in Venice employed enslaved African people. Ca’ Rezzonico was a centre of great wealth, so perhaps this bust implied the status and prestige of its aristocratic patrons.\n","physicalDescription":"Marble bust of a young man wearing a tunic with frogged fastening decorated with glass buttons, some of which are replacements. The grey-black marble head has closely cropped hair and eyes inlaid with mother of pearl. The tunic is made from a pinkish-yellow marble and the bust is mounted on a 19th-century green marble socle. The bust is hollowed out behind, and at the back is an old metal ring for fixing. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carved","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved coloured marbles","categories":[{"text":"Black History","id":"THES48989"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2013GU9395","2013GU9396","2013GU9397","2013GU9398","2013GP7240","2013GU4921","2013GU4920","2013GP7241","2017JY0108"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"7","id":"THES263054"},"free":"","case":"PL6","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bust","id":"AAT47457"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Venice","id":"x29237"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"first half of eighteenth century","earliest":"1700-01-01","latest":"1750-12-31"},"association":{"text":"carved","id":"AAT53149"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"65.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"52.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"24","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"47.5","unit":"kg","qualifier":"measured for Europe 1600-1800","date":{"text":"10.05.2013","earliest":"2013-05-10","latest":"2013-05-10"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured by Conservation, 2012.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased in Florence (Gagliardi) in 1869. \r\n \r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bust, coloured marbles, of a Young Man, Italy (Venice), first half 18th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pope-Hennessy, John. <font -u>Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum.</font> London: HMSO, 1964, cat. no. 716, fig. 707"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. <font -u>Catalogue of Italian Sculpture.</font> London, 1932, p. 165"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<font -u>List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington, Acquired During the Year 1869, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition.</font> London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 34"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Henry Cole, NOTES OF A JOURNEY TO PALERMO AND BACK IN OCTOBER, NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 1868, ms. NAL"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"tunic","id":"AAT209869"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"This lifelike bust may be a portrait of a real person. This would have been unusual in 18th-century Europe, a time when African people were normally depicted as personifications of the continent of Africa or stereotyped in some way. It is likely that this young man was enslaved as a servant. His firm gaze remains striking to visitors today.\n","date":{"text":"19/11/2025","earliest":"2025-11-19","latest":"2025-11-19"}}],"partNumbers":["451-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"451","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN2077","2019LN8623","2019LR5882","2019LV2847","2019LW3386","2023NJ7053","2023NL2666"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-19","recordCreationDate":"1999-12-15","availableToBook":false}}