The Slave Market
Encyclopedia
The Slave Market is a painting by 19th century artist Gustave Boulanger
. It depicts a Roman
slave auction. It shows the marketing of seven young people, ranging in age from children to young adults, as slaves. Both male slaves, as well as three of the female slaves, bear a similarity in appearance perhaps suggesting that they are members of a family forced into slavery by economic conditions. All are wearing tags to indicate their availability as slaves. The taller, standing, young woman is wearing a translucent garment which clearly shows her breasts and pubic hair
--she is trying to shield her eyes, perhaps because her potential buyers include former friends and neighbors, who are probably seeing her nude for the first time. The auctioneer eats his lunch with a very casual attitude.
Originating from the Salon paintings and academic art
of the 19th century, it depicts an erotic scene clad as a history painting
, as was custom at the time in Paris
. Boulanger had visited Italy, Greece, and North Africa, and the painting reflects his attention to culturally correct details and skill in rendering the female form.
Gustave Boulanger
Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger was a French figure painter known for his Neo-Grec style. He was born at Paris, studied with Delaroche and Jollivet, and in 1849 took the Prix de Rome. His paintings are prime examples of academic art of the time, particularly history painting...
. It depicts a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
slave auction. It shows the marketing of seven young people, ranging in age from children to young adults, as slaves. Both male slaves, as well as three of the female slaves, bear a similarity in appearance perhaps suggesting that they are members of a family forced into slavery by economic conditions. All are wearing tags to indicate their availability as slaves. The taller, standing, young woman is wearing a translucent garment which clearly shows her breasts and pubic hair
Pubic hair
Pubic hair is hair in the frontal genital area, the crotch, and sometimes at the top of the inside of the legs; these areas form the pubic region....
--she is trying to shield her eyes, perhaps because her potential buyers include former friends and neighbors, who are probably seeing her nude for the first time. The auctioneer eats his lunch with a very casual attitude.
Originating from the Salon paintings and academic art
Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism,...
of the 19th century, it depicts an erotic scene clad as a history painting
History painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
, as was custom at the time in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Boulanger had visited Italy, Greece, and North Africa, and the painting reflects his attention to culturally correct details and skill in rendering the female form.