Art Gallery of Ontario Identifies Subject of 18th-Century Portrait After Six-Year Investigation

The Art Gallery of Ontario has determined the identity of a young Black woman featured in an 18th-century painting acquired in 2020. The portrait, signed by J. Schul, was purchased at a Sotheby's auction. After over six years of research, museum experts successfully identified the sitter, whose image shows her adorned with pearls. This discovery resolves longstanding questions about the artwork's subject and adds to historical understanding of Black representation in portraiture from that era.