Exhibited as part of ‘Our Stories; Tracing Black Histories in Hertfordshire’ - St Albans Museum + Gallery, St Albans - 2025

Pencil & white charcoal on toned tanned paper.

The earliest document detailing a person of African descent in Hertfordshire to date is a baptism record from 1570. It refers to a man named Fortunatus, aged 17 or 18, who was baptised in Cheshunt. There is, however, little information about him, including any depictions in artwork, especially when compared to the politician he worked for, Sir Robert Cecil, who owned a house in Hertfordshire. This drawing of Fortunatus subverts the common depictions of Black people at the time, which often portrayed them as inferior and in subservient positions, sometimes shown with a shackled neck and gazing upwards, serving as a contrasting object to their white counterparts.

In contrast, Fortunatus is shown wearing a falling band, a popular style of neckwear during the Elizabethan period, signifying status. His face is partially obscured, a reminder of the fragments missing from historical records, except for his being referred to as a “Blackmoor” on his baptism records, a term used historically to describe people of African descent. Yet the image invites us to see him not as an anonymous servant, but as a person with agency, presence and humanity.

Pencil & white charcoal on toned tanned paper.

AS SEEN IN BRITISH VOGUE

Pencil & white charcoal on toned tanned paper.

Pencil & white charcoal on toned tanned paper.

AS SEEN IN THE WORLD OF INTERIORS

Pencil & white charcoal on toned tanned paper.

Pencil & white charcoal on toned tanned paper.