‘His Name Was Bélizaire’: Rare Portrait of Enslaved Child Arrives at the Met

He so calmly said “Mistakes happen.” It wasn’t a mistake. It was a choice.

This child got both his name and his face back. The collaboration between everyone from the descendant of the girls, to the new owner, conservationist and genealogist was A+. It may not be known where he ended or where he began, but the middle of his story is now known.

A museum director saying “mistakes happen” so casually gives me chills. Is that what he says about all the stolen artwork they have as well?

I just can’t get over the fact that he was sold on Christmas Eve, by a family that at one point seemed to care for him at least a little bit. My heart breaks for him.

With the way Belasaire was dressed in the painting, his inclusion with rhe other children, the fact that he was biracial, his several sea voyages with the male owner certainly points to the possibility that the male owner had some regard/affection for him. The fact the mistress of the house sold him immediately after her husband's death and on Christmas Eve infers that she had no regard for him and possibly despised him. Her deceased husband was probably Belasaire's father and this she couldn't bear. This may explain his removal from the painting.

As a student of this time period, the most likely scenario was that the enslaved boy was the master’s son by an enslaved woman. This was a very common situation back then, especially in French America and most especially in New Orleans, where slaves often had the weekends off and some spending money. That explains why he was bought at 6, why he traveled with his father, why he was painted with the other children, why he was dressed so stylishly, and why the mistress sold him when his father died and painted over his image. Who knows, but the father’s will may have emancipated the boy, a common occurrence, but the wife sold him out of anger, another common occurrence. A beautiful portrait.

Bélizaire. What a beautiful name. I got very emotional hearing his name said out loud. He was real. He lived, loved, and breathed. Amazing.

QUICK SUMMARY: THE BOY: * His name was Belizaire. * His mum: Sally * His dad: the slave owner: Frederick Frey * Was sold at 6 years old to the Frey Family, in the French Quarter in New Orleans , with him mum Sally, in 1828. * He was mixed race His dad ( Frederick Frey) was a merchant. Belizaire went with his dad on multiple voyagers - as a domestic slave & caretaker of the children. * He was about 15 in the portrait. * The image showed that he was both 'valued' as a 'family' member, but could also be sold at any time. * When his father Frederick died, his wife Coralie sold him in 1856 to Evergreen Plantation, on Christmas eve. * He was later painted out of the portrait about 50yrs after the portrait was originally done * They discovered the coverup, due to the newer paint cracking at different rates to the underlying original image, and therefore revealing the original image. * the coverup happened about 50 years later. * Belizaire was a slave until 1861, (age 39) when the USA civil war began. His records stop there, and there's no record if he survived. THIS IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW PAINTINGS, LEFT IN THE USA, REALISTICALLY DEPICTING A SLAVE (ie as a usual portrait, as per a family portrait of that era, rather than as a propaganda / charicature of slaves) QUICK SUMMARY: THE PAINTING: * Jeremy K Simien - an art collector discovered the painting for auction & thought it was done by a famous artist * Jeremy found an earlier auction with the boy covered up--- and started to investigate * relative of the white family in the picture, knew the story of a favourite slave in the picture - who was later covered up for an unknown reason * That relative's mum had inherited the painting and donated it to a local museum * that museum put it in the basement for 32 years as "un-exibitable" * 2004 it was sold at auction * buyer restored * Jeremy acquired it in 2021 QUCK SUMMARY: DISCOVERING WHO THE BOY IS: * hired Craig Crawford to do a 2nd restoration - to get it as close as possible to the original intention * Jeremy started to research the painting with Historian Katy Shannon - and spoke to the family that originally donated it to the museum * Katy looked through previous family records to find a family member wealthy enough to hire a painter. * the wealthy family member was Coralie, who owned slaves - one, which matched the age of the boy in the painting (see above) * Census information of those living in the home, included only 1 possible answer to who the boy was - a mixed race child living in the home. (logically assumed to be the result of Coralie's husband Frederick, and a slave) * property records showed the bill of sale, when they bought the boy & registered him as property owned by the Frey family

The name Belizaire is a French word for a West Indian-Haitian name meaning “beautiful river”. Obviously someone cherished and loved him to give him such a name.

how Katie managed to track Belizaire down and how Craig managed to restore that painting is truly astonishing. That took some serious patience skill and dedication.

Belizaire with his sad sad eyes. I wonder if he was not a half brother of the other children. Only hate can make you erase a person out of your life. May he rest in peace.

The two girls in the painting died that very year at ages 5 and 9. The boy died not long after. Belizaire is the only one who lived well into adulthood. I wouldn't be suprised if the mistress of the house was resentful of him.

It’s nice to see the people who’s family formerly owned the painting speaking frankly about it, instead of succumbing to the uncomfortable feeling that the subject of racism and slavery gives people, that makes them shy away from the mere topic, much less discussing an object like that being part of their family history.

For all the people saying that he was not a slave, there is a bill of sale for him and his mother. These bills are public records. Hopefullly, since he was in the "house", he and his mother were treated better than slaves in the "field". God bless the man who bought and the one who restored the painting. This is painful but it's a part of the story of this country.

Being "French" myself (from Québec), it is known that many slave owners in the Franco-Spanish area of USA (formerly Nouvelle-France and particularly on the La Nouvelle-Orléans area) had children (mulattos) with freed slave women and it was very common to recognize them and even send them to France to study. No enslaved children would appear on a family portrait wearing fancy western clothes in a prominent spot of the painting and listed with his name. Clearly he was the eldest son of the family patriarch; a slave on a painting would appear (when they do) always smaller than any of the sitters if not kneeling, wearing "festive and exotic" clothes, even as "Ottoman", carrying exotic fruits and/or birds and always clearly to all eyes, as a servant. This young man is taller than the rest of the children, he's kind of the protagonist of the painting, his name is recorded along with the surname of the family, he wears high quality western clothes denoting his position and education and is depicted with this dandy-esq attitude. My guess is that he was deliberately "erased" by an ashamed relative decades later.

I got emotional when they finally found the name of the boy on the painting. Such a heartbreaking story. Belizaire you will not be forgotten.

What a fascinating story. For some reason, when they revealed his name, “Belizaire”, I began to tear up. His name lives on now. He is not forgotten.

There’s something about Bèlizaire’s eyes, they just penetrate the soul. Truly gorgeous painting.

It was not a mistake. They purposely removed him and it's very obvious.

“Mistakes happen..”? Nice one John. Get him out of there asap.