![Jacopo Zucchi’s allegory of the discovery of America, 1585 (detail).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/jacopo-zucchis-allegorie-der-entdeckung-amerikas-1585-ausschnitt-300x225.jpg)
King, servant, coral diver
Africans have been present in Europe for centuries. If you keep your eyes peeled as you stroll around the art museums of Europe, you’ll encounter them depicted in a wide variety of roles.
![Olivette Otele’s book African Europeans, published in October 2020.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/otele-african-europeans-192x300.jpg)
People of colour in European art collections
![“Kantharos” ceramic vessel featuring the heads of a European and an African, 480-470 BC.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/keramikgefass-kantharos-mit-dem-kopf-eines-europaers-und-eines-afrikaners-300x300.jpg)
![Statue of Saint Maurice in Magdeburg Cathedral, ca. 1240/50.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/statue-des-heiligen-mauritius-im-magdeburger-dom-um-124050-300x203.jpg)
![The Adoration of the Magi, outer wing of the Wurzach altar, 1437.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/die-anbetung-der-heiligen-drei-konige-aussenflugel-des-wurzacher-altars-1437-276x300.jpg)
![Procession of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli, ca. 1460.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/zug-der-heiligen-drei-konige-von-benozzo-gozzoli-um-1460-300x238.jpg)
![Adoration of the Magi by Andrea Mantegna, ca. 1495-1505.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/anbetung-der-konige-von-andrea-mantegna-um-1495-1505-300x229.jpg)
![Katharina by Albrecht Dürer, 1521.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/katharina-von-albrecht-durer-1521-211x300.jpg)
Black gondolieri
![Black gondolier in the painting Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto, 1496, (detail).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/dunkelhautiger-gondoliere-im-gemalde-wunder-der-kreuzesreliquie-von-rialto-1496-auschnitt-300x300.jpg)
![Black man in the painting The Feast in the House of Levi, 1573 (detail).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/dunkelhautiger-mann-im-gemalde-gastmahl-im-haus-des-levi-1573-211x300.jpg)
Colonial history(ies) in oil
![Jacopo Zucchi’s allegory of the discovery of America, 1585.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/jacopo-zucchis-allegorie-der-entdeckung-amerikas-1585-245x300.jpg)
![The Battle of Dogali, Michele Cammarano, 1896.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/die-schlacht-bei-dogali-von-michele-cammarano-1896-300x183.jpg)