We will likely never be able to establish with certainty the identity of the two Black men painted by Rembrandt. There are no documents found, linking the painting to individuals. But we can make a reasoned guess. #BlackHistoryMonth #day20 #rembrandt #identification

First there is the problem of the date. The inventory with a reference to 'two Moors in one painting' was drawn up in 1656 in what is now the @Rembrandthuis; however, the painting that hangs in the @Mauritshuis bears not only Rembrandt’s signature but also the year 1661.
Was the painting made in 1656 while Rembrandt was still living and working in Jodenbreestraat, and not signed and sold until 1661, when he had moved to the Jordaan district? The 1656 estate inventory suggests this.
On the other hand, it is of course possible that Rembrandt painted several pictures featuring two black men. Nevertheless, supposing that it is one and the same
painting, then we can assume that the two men
were in the studio in Jodenbreestraat to be portrayed in or before 1656.
Of course there still are dozens of candidates, since there was a small Black community in the area. However, it is striking, and exceptional, that two men are portrayed instead of one, as was customary in this genre.
Against that background, two candidates stand out. The two men in the painting radiate a certain intimacy, from which might be deduced that they are brothers, or at least closely acquainted.
And at the time, two brothers were living in the area: Bastiaan and Manuel Fernando, two brothers hailing from the island of São Tomé who appeared before a notary on 19 April 1656. #BlackHistoryMonth #Rembrandt
These men, who brought along Jan Sanders of Guinea as a witness, hired themselves out to the Admiralty (the Amsterdam Navy) as sailors.
In 1657, the 25-year-old Bastiaan married Maria from Angola. The couple gave their address as Sint Antoniespoort (3), at the end of Jodenbreestraat, a few hundred meters from Rembrandt’s studio (7).
Naturally this is far from conclusive evidence, but for the time being I don't think we can get any closer to an identification at this point.
Parenthetically, the 1656 deed states that Bastiaan and Manuel served under captain ‘Corderie’. Corderie is a name that does not occur elsewhere, however Joris (de) Caullerij does. As coincidence would have it Rembrandt portrayed this Joris de Caullerij 24 years earlier in 1632.
This thread is an excerpt from my eassay 'Black in Amsterdam around 1650', in the catalogue Black in Rembrandt's TIme. Get in at the @Rembrandthuis or your local bookstore. https://t.co/VPJLRrggv6
Here an older thread about my research into the Afro-Atlantic Community in 17th Amsterdam: https://t.co/VuJsUy4jiK
And one about mixed marriages https://t.co/49hX12L7UW
For people who read #portuguese, please check out the story about Juliana from #Brasil (1656) @FBN https://t.co/IOlciDnDWp
And of course some stories at my blog https://t.co/aqrp5BY22v
During #BlackHistoryMonth everyday a tweet about Amsterdam’s Black History. This was tweet/thread #20 https://t.co/AfkoEIRq8a

More from History

THREAD: With #silversqueeze trending on Twitter, it appears that this week's market spectacle may well be in the silver market.

A perfect moment for a thread on the Hunt Brothers and their alleged attempt to corner the silver market...


1/ First, let's set the stage.

The Hunt Brothers - Nelson Bunker Hunt, William Herbert Hunt, and Lamar Hunt - were the sons of Texas tycoon H.L. Hunt.

H.L. Hunt had amassed a billion-dollar fortune in the oil industry.

He died in 1974 and left that fortune to his family.


2/ After H.L.'s passing, the Hunt Brothers had taken over the family holdings and successfully managed to expand the Hunt empire.

By the late 1970s, the family's fortune was estimated to be ~$5 billion.

In the financial world, the Hunt name was as good as gold (or silver!).


3/ But the 1970s were a turbulent time in America.

Following the oil crisis of the early 1970s, the U.S. had entered a period of stagflation - a dire macroeconomic condition characterized by high inflation, low growth, and high unemployment.


4/ The Hunt Brothers - particularly Nelson Bunker and William Herbert - believed that the inflationary environment would persist and destroy the value of their family's holdings.

To hedge this risk, they turned to silver.

They began buying the metal at ~$3 per ounce in 1973.

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1/ Here’s a list of conversational frameworks I’ve picked up that have been helpful.

Please add your own.

2/ The Magic Question: "What would need to be true for you


3/ On evaluating where someone’s head is at regarding a topic they are being wishy-washy about or delaying.

“Gun to the head—what would you decide now?”

“Fast forward 6 months after your sabbatical--how would you decide: what criteria is most important to you?”

4/ Other Q’s re: decisions:

“Putting aside a list of pros/cons, what’s the *one* reason you’re doing this?” “Why is that the most important reason?”

“What’s end-game here?”

“What does success look like in a world where you pick that path?”

5/ When listening, after empathizing, and wanting to help them make their own decisions without imposing your world view:

“What would the best version of yourself do”?
First update to https://t.co/lDdqjtKTZL since the challenge ended – Medium links!! Go add your Medium profile now 👀📝 (thanks @diannamallen for the suggestion 😁)


Just added Telegram links to
https://t.co/lDdqjtKTZL too! Now you can provide a nice easy way for people to message you :)


Less than 1 hour since I started adding stuff to https://t.co/lDdqjtKTZL again, and profile pages are now responsive!!! 🥳 Check it out -> https://t.co/fVkEL4fu0L


Accounts page is now also responsive!! 📱✨


💪 I managed to make the whole site responsive in about an hour. On my roadmap I had it down as 4-5 hours!!! 🤘🤠🤘