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Zacharias Wagener’s painting of blacks dancing in Recife, Brazil shows a group of Africans playing musical instruments and dancing in a clearing. In the background are rows of trees, and other blacks who are clearly tilling the land. These features and the large house that is visible in the top right corner indicate that the dancers are slaves on a plantation. The scene contains some clear reflections of African culture and ritual, given the musical instruments, which appear to be large drums and a zither-style instrument as would be found in sub-Saharan Africa, and the headdress worn by an individual in the center left. This shows the connection between the African diaspora and the plantation, and how it acted as a conduit for African cultural practices.
This painting shows similarity to the antiquated North American stereotype of the “happy slave”, which was backed by the pseudo-scientific notion that servitude was the natural place for those of African descent.
Zacharias Wagener was a German amateur illustrator who served as a mercenary in Recife.