Scipio Moorhead (active c. 1773-after 1775) was an enslaved

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

who lived in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Moorhead is known through the contemporary African-American poet

Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( – December 5, 1784), was an American writer who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Gates Jr., Henry Louis, ''Trials of Phillis Wheatley: ...

's poem, dedicated "To S. M. a young African Painter, on seeing his Works", published in ''

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral ''Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England'' (published 1 September 1773) is a collection of 39 poems written by Phillis Wheatley, the first professional Afr ...

'', 1773. His full name was learned from period

marginalia Marginalia (or apostils) are marks made in the margin (typography), margins of a book or other document. They may be scribbles, comments, gloss (annotation), glosses (annotations), critiques, doodles, drolleries, or illuminated manuscript, ...

. Moorhead was enslaved by Reverend John Moorhead of Boston, Massachusetts. His drawing talents were tutored by the reverend's wife Sarah Moorhead, who was an art teacher. Although enslaved, Scipio Moorhead enjoyed some workers' freedoms. No original work by Scipio has survived, but he may be the person referred to by a ''Boston News-Letter'' advertisement on January 7, 1773, which spoke of a "negro artist... A negro of extraordinary genius." It is possible that the copperplate engraving of Phillis Wheatley that adorns much of her published poetry is his creation. In the 19th century Wheatley's fame was revived by Massachusetts

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

and many stories about her were recovered through oral history, but Moorhead was never mentioned, so the attribution to him is uncertain; it was first publicly suggested by the Wheatley scholar William H. Robinson in 1984. However, it has been recognized that the portrait is highly unusual. It resembles contemporary portraits by the famous Bostonian painter

John Singleton Copley John Singleton Copley (July 3, 1738 – September 9, 1815) was an Anglo-American painter, active in both colonial America and England. He was believed to be born in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, to Richard and Mary Singleton Copley ...

, but unlike any of Copley's work, it portrays a woman writing a poem deep in thought. The novelty of the portrait was recognized and imitated by Bostonian printers when it was engraved for an edition of Wheatley's poetry in 1773, but the artist's name was never mentioned.Slauter, Eric. Looking for Scipio Moorhead : an "African painter" in revolutionary North America in p. 89-116 It is the first

frontispiece Frontispiece may refer to: * Frontispiece (books), a decorative illustration facing a book's title page * Frontispiece (architecture) In architecture, the term frontispiece is used to describe the Façade, principal face of the building, usually ...

depicting a woman writer in American history, and possibly the first ever portrait of an American woman in the act of writing. Scipio was auctioned in January 1775 as part of an

estate sale An estate sale or estate liquidation is a sale or auction to dispose of a substantial portion of the materials owned by a person who is recently deceased or who must dispose of their personal property to facilitate a move. Reasons for an estate ...

. The advertised location of the slave auction, near the

Liberty Tree The Liberty Tree (1646–1775) was a famous Elm, elm tree that stood in Boston, Massachusetts near Boston Common in the years before the American Revolution. In 1765, Patriot (American Revolution), Patriots in Boston staged the first act of def ...

, was deplored by the 19th-century abolition movement. In the 1780s, enslaved Massachusettsans successfully sued for freedom which led to a general abolition, but it is unknown if Scipio was ever freed, as his buyer was unrecorded and no record of his whereabouts after 1775 has been located.

References

1700s births 18th-century American slaves 18th-century American painters American male painters 18th-century American male artists Year of death unknown African-American painters {{US-painter-stub

See also

References