Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe invites visitors to explore the roles of Africans and their descendants in Renaissance Europe as revealed in compelling paintings, drawings, sculpture and printed books of the period. Vivid portraits from life both encourage face-to-face encounters with the individuals themselves and pose questions about the challenges of color, class, and stereotypes that this new diversity brought to Europe. Despite the importance of the questions posed for audiences today, this is the first time they have been addressed in a major exhibition. Organized by the Walters, the exhibition opened in Baltimore on October 14 and at the Princeton University Art Museum in February 2013. It featured about 75 works of art drawn from the Walters, major museums in the U.S. and Europe, and private collections.
