​Dido Belle

1761 - 1804
​Mikéla’s portrait depicts Dido Belle (1761-1804), the daughter of a young enslaved Black woman and a Royal Naval officer. Born out of wedlock, Dido was raised as part of the aristocratic Murray family in Georgian London and spent much of her life at Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath in north London.
 
Mikéla Henry-Lowe said: “I wanted to paint Dido Belle because a lot of my portraits are of black women wearing head wraps representing black culture, but Dido’s head wrap isn’t cultural. It was most likely to cover her hair because at the time many didn’t know what to do with curly hair. I think it’s amazing that I’ve been given the opportunity to paint a black woman who experienced growing up in an aristocratic family, because most depictions of black women in Georgian Britain were shown as slaves.”

"I think it’s amazing that I’ve been given the opportunity to paint a black woman who experienced growing up in an aristocratic family..."

- Mikela Henry-Lowe

Displayed at Kenwood House

In the library

All the artists