Ohio museum acquires important 17th-century portrait miniature

Portrait of Zaga Christ (Sagga Krestos), 1635, Giovanna Garzoni, (Italian, 1600-1670). Watercolor and bodycolor on vellum mounted on card; silver frame is later. Museum Friends Fund. Courtesy of Phillip Mould and Company, London.
Portrait of Zaga Christ (Ṣägga Krǝstos), 1635, Giovanna Garzoni, (Italian, 1600-1670). Watercolor and bodycolor on vellum mounted on card; silver frame is later. Museum Friends Fund. Courtesy of Phillip Mould and Company, London.
Portrait of Zaga Christ (Sagga Krestos), 1635, Giovanna Garzoni, (Italian, 1600-1670). Watercolor and bodycolor on vellum mounted on card; silver frame is later. Museum Friends Fund. Courtesy of Phillip Mould and Company, London.

OBERLIN, Ohio – The Allen Memorial Art Museum’s gallery of 17th- and 18th-century European art has been reimagined to reveal global stories of encounter and exchange. Central to the new installation is a significant acquisition: a portrait of the Ethiopian traveler Zaga Christ by the Italian artist Giovanna Garzoni. Made in 1635, when the two met at the court of the Duke of Savoy in Turin, Italy, Portrait of Zaga Christ is the earliest known European portrait miniature to depict a Black sitter.

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