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Richard Evans, Portraits of the Caribbean’s first Black King and Prince.

FiNAL LOOK

Report by DR. TAMARA DÍAZ CALCAÑO

In 1816, English painter Richard Evans sailed eastward towards the young Kingdom of Haiti, at the request of its ruler Henry Christophe. There, Evans became an art teacher and produced two of the most enduring images of post-revolutionary Haiti: portraits of the Caribbean’s first Black King and Prince.

The portraits: The King commissioned Evans to paint the only official portraits of himself and his heir, Jacques-Victor. Full length yet quite distinct, capturing in fine detail the individual personalities and their respective positions. Christophe appears as a gallant, middle-aged man with graying hair in an interior space. He is dressed in a dark green coat carrying the star of the Order of Saint-Henry, light breeches, and leather boots. His right hand holds his cane and bicorne (two-cornered) hat, and his left rests in the pocket of his coat giving him an almost casual air. To his immediate right sits a crown accompanied by a cascading red cloth that bears the crest of the Kingdom of Haiti. These are the only details that inform the viewer that he is a monarch, for the King is represented in military uniform. Behind him is an expansive opening that shows a landscape dominated by a sublime sky with a view of Cap-Henri (now, Cap Haïtien).

The King’s representation as a military man should come as no surprise for it was how he made a name for himself during and after the Haitian Revolution. Christophe was born in Grenada in 1767 and arrived in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) as a teenager. By his early twenties he was conscripted into the colonial artillery, beginning his military career in the island. smarthistory.org

Richard Evans, Henry Christophe, King of Haiti, c. 1816, oil on canvas, 34¼” x 25½” (Alfred Nemours Collection of Haitian History, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus)

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