Two young black girls sit together with a bible in their hands. The surrounding palm trees suggest they are in the caribbean. This is a rare example of a 19th-century european portrait of black sitters. The date of the painting coincided with the increased campaigning of black caribbean clergymen for an end to slavery in the british empire. The girls’ smart dress and bible reflect their self-sufficiency and the literacy in caribbean religious communities. These factors were used to encourage the emancipation of enslaved people in the caribbean. Painting by the british artist emma soyer (née emma jones) painted for the abolitionist cause in nineteenth-century britain. Object Type: painting. Genre: portrait. Date: 1831. Dimensions: height: 917 mm (36.1 in) ; width: 716 mm (28.1 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Tate. Emma Soyer (Emma Jones) Two Black Children
