Sculpture of the Day: The Bronze Captive, 1660



The Victoria & Albert Museum



We see here, a captive man with manacled wrists held in front. He kneels on his left knee above a shield, quiver and arrow (symbols of his then-unattainable freedom). Regal in his feathered head-dress and skirt, he looks toward the freedom which has long been denied him.

The work of an unknown sculptor, this powerful figure of patinated bronze dates to 1660-1700 and hails from France. During this period, France colonized islands in the West Indies hoping to transform them into profitable sugar-producing centers fueled by the labor of enslaved Africans.