<I>Union of Saint and Venus</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2012
name: label: Created by
content: Victor Ekpuk, Nigerian American, born 1964
label: Subject of
content: Saartjie Baartman, Khoekhoen, died 1815
notes: label: Caption
content: Union of Saint and Venus is inspired by a rumored relationship between Pope Clement VII and an enslaved woman named Simonetta da Collevecchio, resulting in the birth of Alessandro de Medici (the Duke of Florence and Penne).
label: Caption
content: Ekpuk’s painting critiques the Catholic Church’s role in perpetuating the slave trade and how it benefited from this cruel institution. Twin papal staffs entering the body of a prostrate black woman signify this disturbing connection between the church and the African continent. The pope’s papal miter is decorated with gems, slave sale posters, and excerpts from the Dum Diversas, a 1454 decree issued by Pope Nicholas V that sanctioned the practice of conquering, subjugating, and enslaving Muslim Arabs and pagans—in this case, non-Christian Africans
label: Description
content: Painting depicting the pope's mitre composed of red-tinted textual clippings and encrusted with faux-jewels. The text includes both Latin and English copies of the Dum Diversas, images of the Brookes Slave Ship, and advertisements for the purchasing of enslaved persons. A white line figure wears the mitre and uses two golden croziers as a symbolic phallus to penetrate the black abstract figure of the South African Khoikhoi woman Sarah Baartman, which lies horizontally beneath the pope figure. The light grey background is composed of many varied and repeating abstract figures including a ship carrying enslaved persons, shackles, a trio of enslaved figures, and crosses.
place: label: Place made
content: United States
label: Place depicted
content: Africa
label: Place depicted
content: Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Africa
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Catholicism
label: Topic
content: Christianity
label: Topic
content: Gender
label: Topic
content: Religion
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Trans Atlantic slave trade
label: Topic
content: Violence
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: Slave Narrative
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: Exhibition
content: Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2019.23
objectType: label: Type
content: acrylic paintings
label: Type
content: mixed media
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Victor Ekpuk
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acrylic paint with paper, plastic and glass on Masonite
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 72 × 42 × 2 5/16 in. (182.9 × 106.7 × 5.8 cm)