Past & Present

The newspaper tells me that my local art gallery has acquired an unusual 17th century painting, depicting a white woman and a black woman as if they were of equal status: similar clothing, similar hair (i.e. straight, or at least in a European style), similar gaze. The implication is that this gives some  insight into the way black people in England were then viewed by white society, and that it might have been more equal than we imagine 

I wonder. The other feature of the picture is that both faces are deliberately disfigured by a caricature version of the 'beauty spots' that were then fashionable - they remind me partly of dust on the lens and partly of those apps that put cartoon noses on selfies. The not-so-subtle misogynist message is that women who did this were indulging in vanity and disfiguring the beauty of God's creation. I can't help but wonder if there was a racist sub-text there too: white women who do this are behaving no better than black women might be expected to 

I hope that when the painting goes on display there is some analysis by a black historian - wouldn't it be great if it was David Olusoga, though the perspective of a woman might be even more interesting

The strange wagon train stopped on the road for some time. I'm not sure the garage sells coal, to be honest