On Being Present: Recovering Blackness in the Uffizie Galleries, I & II

Justus Suttermans, Madonna Domenica delle Cascine, la Cecca di Pratolino e Piero Moro, ca.1634, oil on canvs, Uffizi Galleries, Florence.

On Being Present is a research project with a virtual platform via the website of the Uffizi Galleries, launched in February 2020 as a collaboration with Black History Month Florence. It sets out to highlight the histories and historical context of the African figures present in a range of paintings throughout the Gallery of the Statues and Paintings and Palatine Gallery. Drawing upon recent scholarship and exhibitions, the aim is to recover Blackness from within one of the most iconic collections of art in the world. There are two parts to the online exhibition, Vol. I and Vol. II.