Susan Costello, Kate Smith, Marina Klinger, Georgina Rayner, Katherine Eremin, and Cassandra Albinson
Abstract
A painted plaster version of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s (1827-1875) Why Born Enslaved! entered the Harvard Art Museums in 2021 as part of a bequest from Arthur K. and Mariot F. Solomon. The sculpture depicts the bust of a bound, partially nude woman of African decent in a twisting pose with an anguished expression. Carpeaux developed the composition in 1868 from studies for the figure of “Africa” in The Fountain of the Observatory in Paris. The artist first exhibited a marble version at the Paris Salon of 1869 and subsequently produced multiple versions in plaster, terracotta, bronze, and marble. Research suggests Harvard’s example is a 20th-century unsanctioned after-cast. Prior to exhibition, the bust underwent extensive conservation treatment involving close collaboration among objects and paintings conservators, curators, and scientists.
At acquisition, the bust was in poor condition and unsuitable for display. Scientific analysis of the paint layers confirmed at least three previous restoration campaigns. Her face had been overpainted with black paint, obscuring the distinction between skin and hair. Thick bronze overpaint covered the clothing and base, while darkened and crazed varnish further obscured the surface. The sculpture also exhibited widespread flaking and significant plaster and paint losses.
Treatment aimed to stabilize the surface and return the sculpture as close as possible to its original appearance. After consolidation, varnish and overpaint removal began. This step was challenging due to the varying paint solubility from color to color requiring discussions and extensive testing to determine an effective solution. For example, reducing the bronze overpaint included solvent-dampened cotton pads, solvent applied with Evolon, mechanical removal, and Nd:YAG laser cleaning. Once complete, it revealed the clothing was originally painted red and the base black.
Reducing the black restoration paint on the face also revealed original details such as red lips, black eyebrows, and nuanced whites and reds in the eyes, and reestablished the visual contrast between the skin and hair. Remarkably, shards of glass found in the eye socket suggested the original eyes were inlaid glass. With no definitive reference, the eyes were restored based on a similar sculpture with plaster eyes. The treatment concluded with loss compensation and retouching, bringing the sculpture closer to its original appearance and able to be displayed in the special exhibition, The Solomon Collection: Durer to Degas and Beyond from May 24, 2025-August 17, 2025.
Conservation of the bust not only stabilized and transformed the sculpture but also opened new avenues for teaching and discussion. Created in the wake of the Civil War in the United States, but two decades after the abolition of slavery in France, Why Born Enslaved! can be read as both a powerful condemnation of slavery and a troubling image of racialized bondage, objectification, and violence. Her life-size scale and realistically painted surface create an immediate personal connection that invites reflection and encourages critical conversations about ethical conservation practices, slavery, racism, and the depiction of race.