Olympia, Sara Ceraso

Edouardo Manet's piece Olympia, done in 1863 brings up the idea of racial separation. This painting was already controversial due to its step away from the typical reclining nude figure of the time.

"Manet's Olympia is also significant for black imagery because of the many roles the black servant Laura plays in the painting. From a purely pictorial point of view, this French-Caribbean maid acts as a point of contrast to Victorine. Like the cat, flowers, and wooden panelling of this room she is a background feature employed to demonstrate Manet's deft handling of a darker palette. As a servant, she reinforces the status and the theme of Olympia. Finally, as a black servant she underlines Victorine's sexuality and her prostitution. All three roles were familiar to the 19th century audience, and they were consistent with how non-Europeans, especially black people, had been represented historically. Later, the pseudo-scientific theories of social Darwinists advanced these representations, along with other stereotypes, as arguments against the abolition of slavery.

(Self Portrait of Henry Daley) In the same way that black imagery in European painting raises many racial issues, black imagery also figures significantly in Jamaican art but it carries different, more positive, meanings. The presence of the black, and particularly the black male in painting and sculpture is a symbol of race pride and nationalism. This is mainly due to the influence of two important figures, Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey and the artist Edna Manley."