Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

• World Regions

  All regions

  Select a region

  • North America
  • Europe
  • Central and North Asia
  • East Asia
  • Central America
  • South America
  • Africa
  • West Asia
  • Oceania
  • South and Southeast Asia

  Select a time period

  • 8000–2000 B.C.
  • 2000–1000 B.C.
  • 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.
  • 1–500 A.D.
  • 500–1000 A.D.
  • 1000–1400 A.D.
  • 1400–1600 A.D.
  • 1600–1800 A.D.
  • 1800–1900 A.D.
  • 1900 A.D.–Present
• Timelines

  by Time Period 8,000–2,000 b.c. 2,000–1,000 b.c. 1,000 b.c.–1 a.d. 1–500 a.d. 500–1,000 a.d. 1,000–1400 a.d. 1400–1600 a.d. 1600–1800 a.d. 1800–1900 a.d. 1900 a.d.–present

  by Geographical Region Africa   Central America   Central and North Asia   East Asia   Europe   North America   Oceania   South America   South and Southeast Asia  West Asia

• Thematic Essays
  • Recent Additions  |  All Thematic Essays
  • 
    Select a Thematic Category African Art American Art Ancient Near Eastern Art Art of the Americas Asian Art Byzantine Art Egyptian Art European Art Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art Medieval Art Modern and Contemporary Art Oceanic/Pacific Art Prehistory Select a Department American Decorative Arts American Paintings and Sculpture Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Asian Art The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Education Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art The Libraries Medieval Art and The Cloisters Musical Instruments Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art Objects Conservation Paintings Conservation Paper Conservation Photographs Robert Lehman Collection Scientific Research Textile Conservation

    ---

  • Select a Geographical Region Africa Central America Central and North Asia East Asia Europe North America Oceania South America South and Southeast Asia West Asia All Geographical Regions Select a Time Period 20,000–8000 B.C. 8000–2000 B.C. 2000–1000 B.C. 1000 B.C.–1 A.D. 1–500 A.D. 500–1000 A.D. 1000–1400 A.D. 1400–1600 A.D. 1600–1800 A.D. 1800–1900 A.D. 1900 A.D.–Present All Time Periods
    
• Works of Art
  Recent Additions
  
  

  Title Description
  Artist
  Material and Technique
  Credit Line
  Accession Number

• Index

  Artist (A–Z) | All Artists

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z

  ---

  Subject (A–Z)

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z

Portraits of African Leadership

• 
  Standing Male and Female Figures, 18th–19th century
  Democratic Republic of Congo; Tabwa
  Wood, beads

  H. 18 7/32 in. (46.28 cm), H. 18 1/2 in. (47 cm)
  The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1969 (1978.412.591,2)

• 
  Oba with Animals, 18th–19th century
  Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin
  Brass
  

  H. 4 7/8 in. (12.38 cm)
  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1991 (1991.17.113)

  Altar to the Hand (Ikegobo) of Ezomo Ehenua, 18th–19th century
  Nigeria; Edo peoples; court of Benin
  Brass
  

  H. 13 in. (33.02 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1996 (1996.11)

• 
  Silver Buffalo and Elephant, 19th century
  Republic of Benin; Fon
  Silver-copper alloy, brass, copper, and iron

  Each H. 12 in. (30.5 cm)
  Gift of Anne d'Harnoncourt and Joseph Rishel, in memory of Rene and Sarah Carr d'Harnoncourt and Nelson A. Rockefeller, 2002 (2002.517.1-2)

• 
  Figure, 19th–20th century
  Bangwa peoples; Cameroon
  Wood, pigment, encrustation, fiber

  H. 40 1/4 in. (102.2 cm)
  The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1968 (1978.412.576)

• 
  Seated Male Figure, 19th–20th century
  Democratic Republic of Congo; Kongo, Yombe
  Wood, glass, metal, kaolin

  H. 11 1/2 in. (29.21 cm)
  Purchase, Louis V. Bell Fund, Mildred Vander Poel Becker Bequest, Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Gift, and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1996 (1996.281)

View SlideshowView Thumbnails

Often the very act of commissioning a portrait was an indication of the ruler's power and dynastic legitimacy.

Related

Timelines (6)

• Central Africa, 1600–1800 A.D.
• Central Africa, 1800–1900 A.D.
• Central Africa, 1900 A.D.–present
• Eastern Africa, 1900 A.D.–present
• Guinea Coast, 1600–1800 A.D.
• Guinea Coast, 1800–1900 A.D.

Primary Thematic Essays (7)

• Ana Nzinga: Queen of Ndongo
• Dona Beatriz: Kongo Prophet
• Idia: The First Queen Mother of Benin
• Political African Women of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries
• Portraits of African Leadership: Living Rulers
• Portraits of African Leadership: Memorials
• Portraits of African Leadership: Royal Ancestors

Other Thematic Essays (6)

• African Influences in Modern Art
• Kongo Ivories
• Origins and Empire: the Benin, Owo,and Ijebu Kingdoms
• Trade Relations Among European and African Nations
• Tutsi Basketry
• Ways of Recording African History

Maps (2)

• Africa, 1600–1800 a.d.
• World, 1600–1800 a.d.

Index Terms (12)

Art Movement/Style

• Baga Peoples of Western Africa
• Boki Peoples of Western Africa
• Bozo Peoples of Western Africa
• Ejagham Peoples of Western Africa
• The Republic of Benin [Fon] of Western Africa

Geography/Place

• Central Africa
• Guinea Coast

Object

• Regalia

Subject Matter/Theme

• Mourning
• Portrait Sculpture
• Portrait Sculpture from Africa and Egypt
• Ruler

Share

| More

In Africa, sculptural depictions of rulers and ancestral heroes have served a variety of political and spiritual 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.

Alexander Ives Bortolot Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University

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 Bastin, Marie-Louise. La sculpture tshokwe. Paris: Chaffin, 1982. Ben-Amos, Paula Girshick. Art, Innovation, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Benin. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. Blier, Suzanne. "King Glele of Danhomé" (Parts I & II). African Arts 23, no. 4 (1991), pp. 42–53; 24, no. 1 (1991), pp. 44–55. Borgatti, Jean M., and Richard Brilliant. Likeness and Beyond: Portraits from Africa and the World. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Center for African Art, 1990. Maurer, Evan M., and Allen F. Roberts. Tabwa: The Rising of a New Moon, a Century of Tabwa Art. Exhibition catalogue. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1985. Thompson, Robert Farris, and Joseph Cornet. The Four Moments of the Sun: Kongo Art in Two Worlds. Exhibition catalogue. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1981. Suggested Online Resources Four Museums in Cameroon Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions) The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Newton, Douglas. "The Art of Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas: A New Perspective." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 39, no. 2 (Fall, 1981). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director's Note" PDF Vogel, Susan Mullin. "Art and Politics: A Staff from the Court of Benin, West Africa." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 13 (1978). JSTOR | PDF