Alexander Ives Bortolot
Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University
October 2003
Unlike images of ancestral leaders such as Chibinda Ilunga, memorial portraits were created at around the time of the subject’s death. These works honored important persons and were often placed in tombs or on altars where they could serve as points of contact with the spirits of those they represented. Wood or stone figural sculptures called bitumba (sing. tumba) (1996.281; 1978.412.573) were carved by some Kongo peoples of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo and placed on graves or in memorial houses dedicated to distinguished members of the community. Elements of their composition such as pose and costume represented the favorable concepts within the Kongo worldview that these individuals exemplified. In the kingdom of Benin, brass commemorative heads (1979.206.86) were commissioned by each oba (king) in the first years of his reign to honor his immediate predecessor. These stylized depictions of past rulers, along with other artworks associated with their reigns, were placed on altars in the royal palace where they served as conduits through which family members could petition the spirits of their antecedents for help in maintaining the health and prosperity of the kingdom.
Memorial depictions of rulers were sometimes employed to maintain dynastic continuity at times of potential political instability such as funerals and coronations. In what is today western Cameroon, freestanding portrait sculptures called lefem (1978.412.576) were carved just before a ruler’s death. During the funerary ceremonies after his death, the deceased king’s lefem and those of his forebears were displayed in a group as a vivid reflection on the continuity of the lineage’s leadership.
Citation
Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Portraits of African Leadership: Memorials.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aprt_4/hd_aprt_4.htm (October 2003)
Further Reading
Ben-Amos, Paula Girshick. Art, Innovation, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Benin. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999.
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.
Additional Essays by Alexander Ives Bortolot
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Portraits of African Leadership: Living Rulers.” (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)
- Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Portraits of African Leadership.” (October 2003)
Related Essays
- Benin Chronology
- Portraits of African Leadership
- Portraits of African Leadership: Living Rulers
- Portraits of African Leadership: Royal Ancestors
- African Christianity in Kongo
- Asante Royal Funerary Arts
- Asante Textile Arts
- Exchange of Art and Ideas: The Benin, Owo, and Ijebu Kingdoms
- Kingdoms of Madagascar: Malagasy Funerary Arts
- Kingdoms of Madagascar: Malagasy Textile Arts
- Kongo Ivories
- Tutsi Basketry
- Ways of Recording African History
- 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