His Name Was Bélizaire

This is a story about an artwork, but it could also be a metaphor for history. A portrait of the Frey children of Louisiana was painted somewhere around 1838, and included an enslaved child who was said to have been a favorite of the family. By the time the painting was acquired by the New Orleans Museum of Art in 1972, the Black child had been painted over. In 2005, a private owner who had bought the painting had it restored and the original figure was revealed.

Who was this other child? What happened to him? And why was he painted over? Art historian Jeremy K. Simien was determined to reveal the story behind the portrait. He acquired the painting, and after painstaking work with the help of experts, uncovered the young man named Bélizaire in more ways than one.