Skip to content
Equality

Painting of Yale Namesake And Enslaved Child Back on Display

This image provided by the Yale Center for British Art, on Oct. 27, 2021, shows of an early 18th century oil on canvas painting titled "Elihu Yale with Members of his Family and an Enslaved Child." The depiction of Yale University's namesake with relatives and an enslaved Black child, that startled some viewers, has been returned to public display at one of the college's museums, amid an investigation into its origins by art experts and campus discussions about the school's ties to slavery. (Yale Center for British Art via AP)
This image provided by the Yale Center for British Art, on Oct. 27, 2021, shows of an early 18th century oil on canvas painting titled "Elihu Yale with Members of his Family and an Enslaved Child." The depiction of Yale University's namesake with relatives and an enslaved Black child, that startled some viewers, has been returned to public display at one of the college's museums, amid an investigation into its origins by art experts and campus discussions about the school's ties to slavery. (Yale Center for British Art via AP)
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (DAVE COLLINS)

(AP) -- An early 18th-century painting depicting Yale University's namesake with an enslaved Black child has been returned to public display at one of its museums even as art experts investigate its origins and campus discussions about the school's ties to slavery continue.

The nearly life-size, oil-on-canvas portrait shows Elihu Yale and family members sitting at a table with tobacco pipes and wine glasses, while an enslaved boy with a metal collar locked around his neck looks on. In the background, children believed to be Yale's grandchildren are playing.