Historic Portraits of Enslaved Individuals in Mississippi Exhibited at Mississippi Museum of Art

JACKSON, Miss. – At the Mississippi Museum of Art, “Portrait of Frederick,” an enslaved man depicted around 1840, captivates viewers with his intense gaze and mysterious expression.

Nearby, a painting of Delia, a Black woman in a red dress and headscarf, shares a similarly enigmatic look. These portraits are the only known pre-Civil War depictions of enslaved individuals in Mississippi.

Now, for the first time, they hang together for the public to see.

“I was mesmerized by the painting,” museum visitor Staci Williams said. “The colors, the expression. His humanity seemed to jump off of the page.”

The artworks provoke curiosity about Frederick and Delia’s identities, their reasons for being painted, and their thoughts as their likenesses were preserved for posterity.

“We don’t know whether Frederick or Delia had the choice to pose or decide what to wear,” remarked Betsy Bradley, the museum’s Laurie Hearin McRee director. “Owning their portrait was never a possibility for them.”

The museum acquired “Portrait of Frederick” jointly with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The portrait will rotate between the two museums, each showcasing it for several years.

Bradley explained that buying the portrait was emotionally complex. Frederick was regarded as property until the abolition of slavery, and now, over 150 years later, his image remains an item bought and sold.

“If it enables us to have important conversations with each other about the human cost of slavery and why it mustn’t ever happen again, then having it in a public place can be meaningful,” Bradley said.

Since the 1860s, “Portrait of Frederick” has been displayed at Longwood, an antebellum mansion in Natchez, Mississippi, that belonged to the family of his enslavers. There, Frederick’s likeness was used to whitewash history.

According to research by the Neal Auction Company, which sold the painting to the Mississippi Museum of Art, tour guides in the 1970s informed the public that Frederick had grown up alongside his enslaver Haller Nutt, and the two were best friends. They claimed Nutt freed Frederick and referred to him by the belittling moniker “Uncle Frederick.”

In actuality, Frederick oversaw other slaves on the plantation. He collected data on field production, analyzed growing conditions and acted as a manager. His role was important, and he and his family may have received better living conditions as a result.

Frederick was about 70 when the Civil War ended. He took the surname Baker and became ordained. Prior to emancipation, Black people were not allowed to marry. Frederick married at least 69 couples after it became legal.

Less is known about Delia. Her portrait was painted between 1840 and 1849. She appears to be sewing, which leads some to believe she worked inside her enslavers’ home. Delia’s portrait was kept by the descendants of her enslavers until the Mississippi Museum of Art bought it 2019.

Both portraits are unique in that Frederick and Delia are the sole subjects of the works. Oftentimes, Black people were painted alongside white people, likely as a way of underscoring the white person’s wealth.

Frederick is dressed in regal garb — something he likely would not have worn in his everyday role on the plantation. Both are depicted in a three-quarters composition, which was used for dignified and important subjects.

Upon looking at “Portrait of Frederick,” Williams said she felt a surprising mixture of pride and sadness.

“I wonder about what he’s thinking,” Williams mused. “He doesn’t seem to give anything away.”