Excellent video which I watched just after seeing Williams portrait today. This was an eye opener. Not all eighteenth century black Jamaicans were slaves. Well done.

Very interesting! I love watching theses videos from the museum. watch the video in full before you judge. If your not here to learn maybe this channel isn’t for you! Every artist is different with different styles it doesn’t have to be perfect for it to still have meaning

What an interesting video ! I'm really happy to see Dr. Checinska back 😊

Would you consider putting in subtitles on your videos? They make your videos and teachings much more accessible to everyone

@gettothechorus

8 ай бұрын

There is an icon in the toolbar for subtitles - hopefully this helps!

Interesting and also somehow calming, everyone's voices were soothing lol

Am I the only one who saw the video? The video is the whole argument as to why the portrait is so important. Not all the portraits in the world have to be rich girls in white dresses, you know.

@vamuseum

11 ай бұрын

Thank you for taking the time to watch the film. We appreciate it.

@cornflakegirl4811

4 ай бұрын

You are so right and that's why it is important because it was painted in a time where there were only paintings with rich white men or women. This portrait is incredibly important and a landmark in a world of art that was ruled by colonial suppression and arrogance. In a way it's so ironic/cynical that this portrait is part of a collection of a museum which is named "Victoria and Albert" (don't get me wrong, I adore this museum and I know they try to be transparent about their collections).

Well done!

This was fascinating, more please!

Painting looks like a .. caricature......😊 just my opinion

@vamuseum

11 ай бұрын

Hi @maxlinder5262, the suggestion that the Williams portrait might be a caricature has indeed been made before... And if that was the case, the question is: was it commissioned by someone who shared Long’s racist views that Williams could never be a gentleman because of the colour of his skin? On the other hand, slightly too much careful thought seems to have gone into the depiction of the library to fully support that argument. Given the obvious shortcomings in the picture’s perspective and the proportions of Williams’ body, the question remains who painted the picture. It was probably not made by a professional artist - could the painter have been Williams himself? Showing himself as a gentleman who did not only know Latin and Science, but also tried his hand at drawing (rather than commissioning a professional back in London)? There is so much more to find out about the picture...

This obsession with race and colonialism everywhere. I am so bored of it.

@ririschannelx

7 ай бұрын

I’m bored of ignorant people like you everywhere but we can’t always get what we want.

so to feel proud he needed to wear wig which was blond. i mean idea of being proud is disturbing here

@NinaHansen2008

7 ай бұрын

At that time, all gentlemen in official positions wore wigs. It was the custom. Look at other portraits from the same period. He was dressing in what was considered an appropriate manner.

What an horrible painting. Why would the museum invest time in this? Woke?

@gabejames3304

11 ай бұрын

So if you watched the video you would understand how we know very little about Francis Williams, and that this single portrait is the only image of him. Francis Williams being a successful free man from Jamaica who studied in England, at a time when the majority of black people in Jamaica were enslaved. So arguably Francis Williams is a figure who represents much of the issues with our history and a person who yet again proves how we should all be equal. But yeah it’s just woke right? Idiot

@l.a.glover9172

11 ай бұрын

You obviously did not listen carefully to the complete video, which explains why the painting is so important. Granted, the artist was not the best, but that is not relevant.

@renater.540

11 ай бұрын

Could you explain why you consider this portrait horrible? If someone or something does not appeal to one's own aesthetic norms there's nevertheless no reason to belittle it/his or her respectively. Aesthetic values have changed so often and so much over the centuries that there is no everlasting norm to them. I'd like to remind you of works of Albrecht Altdorfer or Wolf Huber whose persons are often outright ugly - but would this entitle us to ignore their works? Or think of Quentin Massys' masterly portrait of the "Ugly duchess"....

@renater.540

11 ай бұрын

And I'm not convinced that Massys' work was meant as satirical as it is sometimes described. (There is btw. an excellent video on the channel of British historian Dr. Kat. Reading the past) Imo we have to be very careful with our judgement and look with more empathy at those portrayed.