This bust-length view of a free woman of color is shown in three-quarter view. She wears a yellow headdress and a black dress with an elaborate lace collar, as well as a circular pin inset with stones pinned at the neckline, and drop pendant earrings, also inset with stones.
For years, the portrait went by the name Betsy, based on the presumed identity of the sitter as an enslaved servant to the artist. In fact, she was a free woman, and was part of a dynamic, multi-racial culture in New Orleans in which people of color often had significant rights and freedoms in comparison to the rest of the United States.
Creator: François Jacques Fleischbein
Date: ca. 1801–1868
Original Medium: Oil on canvas
Original Size: 28 1/4 × 22 1/4 in.
Location: The Historic New Orleans Collection
Approximate Measurements
Paper Size: 11.00" W x 14.00"H
Image Size: 10.00" W x 12.70" H
This bust-length view of a free woman of color is shown in three-quarter view. She wears a yellow headdress and a black dress with an elaborate lace collar, as well as a circular pin inset with stones pinned at the neckline, and drop pendant earrings, also inset with stones.
For years, the portrait went by the name Betsy, based on the presumed identity of the sitter as an enslaved servant to the artist. In fact, she was a free woman, and was part of a dynamic, multi-racial culture in New Orleans in which people of color often had significant rights and freedoms in comparison to the rest of the United States.
Creator: François Jacques Fleischbein
Date: ca. 1801–1868
Original Medium: Oil on canvas
Original Size: 28 1/4 × 22 1/4 in.
Location: The Historic New Orleans Collection
Approximate Measurements
Paper Size: 11.00" W x 14.00"H
Image Size: 10.00" W x 12.70" H