Image of the Black at the National Gallery

Autumn 2026 Tours

A two-hour  live unscripted in person tour of National Gallery's collection revealing the Black presences in the art on display.

The National Gallery

<a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pieter-bruegel-the-elder-the-adoration-of-the-kings" title="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pieter-bruegel-the-elder-the-adoration-of-the-kings" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Cover Image:</a> Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1564) The Adoration of the Kings (detail)The National Gallery is one of the world’s greatest collections of European art. Hidden in its collection of over 2,500 works there are many black presences most times hidden.This Image of the Black in the National Gallery is a live unscripted two hour introduction to the open, and often hidden black presence to be found in the Gallery’s collection, from subjects of economic capital to creators of cultural capital; musicians, kings, queens, slaves, servants, saints and artists, sometimes just as people.The tour reveals the presences to be found in works from the great Renaissance masters including Titian, Dürer, Veronese and Gossaert, eighteenth century English portrature by Reynolds, Lawrence , Zoffany and Hogarth as well as the hidden presence to be found in the gallery’s buildings.You'll be introduced to the religious, cultural and social significance of that often-hidden black presence in the works on display in, by the end of each tour you'll be able analyse the black presence in other pictures.Your tour guide is<a href="https://about.me/michaelohajuru/" title="https://about.me/michaelohajuru/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> Michael I. Ohajuru DUniv, FRSA</a><a href="https://veronese1515.blogspot.com/2024/03/honorary-doctorate-duniv-from-open.html" title="https://veronese1515.blogspot.com/2024/03/honorary-doctorate-duniv-from-open.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Honoray Doctorate from Open Univeristy (2024)</a>, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (2022), Senior Fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (2017), Honours degrees in Physics (1974) and Art History (2008). Blogs, writes and speaks regularly on the Black presence in Renaissance Europe. Has spoken in the UK at the National Gallery, Tate Britain, British Library, National Archives and the Victoria Albert Museum and USA at the Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven and The Metroploitain Museum , New York. Founder of <a href="http://bit.ly/The_IBLG" title="http://bit.ly/The_IBLG" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Image of the Black in London Gallerie</a>s a series of gallery tours , the Project Director and Chief Evangelist of <a href="http://JohnBlanke.com" title="http://JohnBlanke.com" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The John Blanke Project</a>: an Art and Archive project celebrating John Blanke the Black trumpeter to courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII, co-convener of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies <a href="https://blackbritishhistory.co.uk" title="https://blackbritishhistory.co.uk" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">What’s Happening in Black British History </a>series of workshops and founder member of the <a href="https://thepb2podcast.wixsite.com/website" title="https://thepb2podcast.wixsite.com/website" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Black Presence in British Portraiture</a> network<a href="https://twitter.com/michael1952" title="https://twitter.com/michael1952" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@Michael1952</a>

Image of the Black at the National Gallery

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Image of the Black at the National Gallery

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