Alexander Ives Bortolot
Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University
October 2003
In Africa, sculptural depictions of rulers and ancestral heroes have served a variety of political, spiritual, and commemorative functions. Passed down along dynastic lines or commissioned by current rulers, such images were often displayed as evidence of pedigree to justify and consolidate power, and sometimes served as conduits for communication between the ancestors and their living successors. Rulers often utilized the medium of portraiture to present themselves to their subjects, frequently in idealized terms that conveyed their physical, intellectual, and spiritual superiority. Often the very act of commissioning a portrait was an indication of the ruler’s power and dynastic legitimacy that demonstrated the individual’s control over important economic and artistic resources. In some political traditions, it also showed that a ruler had undergone ritual processes of investiture that revealed his or her underlying character and ultimate destiny—features that could then be realized in visual form. Some types of portraiture were not figural at all but evoked the subject metaphorically by portraying a set of personal attributes in visual form. Finally, portraits might serve an honorific purpose, memorializing eminent members of the community.
Citation
Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Portraits of African Leadership.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aprt/hd_aprt.htm (October 2003)
Further Reading
Borgatti, Jean M., and Richard Brilliant. Likeness and Beyond: Portraits from Africa and the World. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Center for African Art, 1990.
Additional Essays by Alexander Ives Bortolot
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Portraits of African Leadership: Living Rulers.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Portraits of African Leadership: Memorials.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Portraits of African Leadership: Royal Ancestors.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “The Transatlantic Slave Trade.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Trade Relations among European and African Nations.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Ways of Recording African History.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Art of the Asante Kingdom.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Asante Royal Funerary Arts.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Asante Textile Arts.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Gold in Asante Courtly Arts.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “The Bamana Ségou State.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History: Ana Nzinga, Queen of Ndongo.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History: Dona Beatriz, Kongo Prophet.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Exchange of Art and Ideas: The Benin, Owo, and Ijebu Kingdoms.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History: Idia, First Queen Mother of Benin.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Kingdoms of Madagascar: Malagasy Funerary Arts.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Kingdoms of Madagascar: Malagasy Textile Arts.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Kingdoms of Madagascar: Maroserana and Merina.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Kingdoms of the Savanna: The Kuba Kingdom.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Kingdoms of the Savanna: The Luba and Lunda Empires.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History, 17th–19th Century.” (October 2003)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History, 17th–19th Century.” (October 2003)
Related Essays
- Portraits of African Leadership: Living Rulers
- Portraits of African Leadership: Memorials
- Portraits of African Leadership: Royal Ancestors
- Senufo Sculpture from West Africa: An Influential Exhibition at the Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1963
- African Christianity in Kongo
- African Influences in Modern Art
- Kongo Ivories
- Trade Relations among European and African Nations
- Tutsi Basketry
- Ways of Recording African History
- Women Leaders in African History, 17th–19th Century
- Women Leaders in African History, 17th–19th Century
- Women Leaders in African History: Ana Nzinga, Queen of Ndongo
- Women Leaders in African History: Dona Beatriz, Kongo Prophet
- Women Leaders in African History: Idia, First Queen Mother of Benin
Chronology
- Central Africa, 1600–1800 A.D.
- Central Africa, 1800–1900 A.D.
- Central Africa, 1900 A.D.–present
- Eastern Africa, 1600–1800 A.D.
- Eastern Africa, 1800–1900 A.D.
- Eastern Africa, 1900 A.D.–present
- Guinea Coast, 1600–1800 A.D.
- Guinea Coast, 1800–1900 A.D.
- Guinea Coast, 1900 A.D.–present
- Southern Africa, 1600–1800 A.D.
- Southern Africa, 1800–1900 A.D.
- Southern Africa, 1900 A.D.–present
Keywords
- Africa
- Anthropomorphism
- Benin
- Boki Art
- Bozo Art
- Central Africa
- Chokwe Art
- Deity / Religious Figure
- Eastern Africa
- Edo Art
- Ejagham Art
- Fon Art
- Guinea Coast
- Kuba Art
- Luba Art
- Mourning
- North Africa
- Portrait
- Regalia
- Religious Art
- Ruler
- Sculpture
- Southern Africa
- Tabwa Art
- Western Africa
- Western North Africa (The Maghrib)