Jean-Baptiste Belley
Medium
Black chalk, with stumping, and traces of pen and black ink, heightened with touches of opaque white, on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
36.9 × 30.3 cm (14 9/16 × 11 15/16 in.)
Classification
graphite
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
44272
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Sold into slavery as a boy, Jean-Baptiste Belley (1746–1805) bought his freedom in 1764. Belley fought in the American War of Independence and served as a captain in the French army during the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) fighting to abolish slavery on the island of Saint-Domingue (now Hispaniola). In 1793 he was elected to the National Convention in Paris, becoming its first black deputy. Belley wears the uniform of a representative to the Convention. As we know from the painting for which t...