Black Presence in National Gallery Paintings

The Other Woman

Many black women in paintings are servants, but they are shown in lots of different ways. Some kneel or follow white women, holding their jewels or the trains of their robes. When she is shown next to her mistress, the black servant may also be intended to provide a visual contrast in terms of their skin - European ideals of female beauty prized pale ivory skin, and attached to it positive virtues like purity. The black woman becomes the Other woman on the margins, who confirms the white woman's place at the centre.

Liss hasn't focused on ideals of feminine beauty in this painting. It is a Biblical story in which a female servant (usually shown as black) plays a vital role. Abra helped her mistress Judith to behead the general of an army, which was laying siege to their home town. These daring freedom-fighters worked together to kill him and escape with his head. Liss shows us only the top of Abra's face above Judith's arm: she is almost completely eclipsed by the white sleeve. How do you read the intense expression in her eyes?

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