by A Rhodes scholar urged his Oxford college to remove a portrait of an 18th-century duke because he felt it was “racist and dehumanizing”, The Telegraph can reveal.
A painting of Henry Somerset, 3rd Duke of Beaufort, was recently taken from Oriel College, Oxford and was loaned to Badminton House, the ancestral home where the 12th Duke currently lives.
In the portrait by Andrea Soldi, the Duke, a descendant of King Henry IV and benefactor of Orialla, wears large ermine robes, a powdered wig, stockings and breeches, while a black boy with a metal collar is crowned in the background.
A source from the college said last month that the painting had been changed “in case it upset a student”.
The Telegraph can reveal that it was the result of a five-year campaign launched by a South African Rhodes scholar.
Alexander von Klemperer, who was a PhD student in neuroscience at Oriel in 2018, submitted a paper to the college’s picture committee that November and said he was “personally disturbed” by the portrait, as well as another portrait of Charles Augustus Murray, British. a diplomat who worked in Persia, which also features a black person in the background.
“While both images are products of their time, they are also racist depictions of people of color as subjugated and to an extent dehumanized,” he said. “The way portraits and people are presented in a space can make a huge difference to how comfortable or welcoming that space is to people.
“This is especially true in this situation, where the legacy of colonialism and slavery can cause feelings of alienation from Africans of color or origin.”
It is not yet known who the black people in the pictures are. Some suggest that they never existed and that they are a form of allegory or artistic achievement by the painters, while critics say that they are servants and slaves to white male masters.
Dr von Klemperer, who has since left Oxford, campaigned for the college to remove the portraits, saying: “It is essential for the College to remove these portraits from the senior room. I also argued that this should be the first action taken by the college on this matter.”
Oriel was at the center of the Rhodes Must Fall 2020 protests which led to months of debate over whether the statue of Cecil Rhodes, the mining magnate and imperialist who was the college’s most generous benefactor and provider of scholarships to today, removed.
The college has said the portrait is on temporary loan to Badminton House for safekeeping due to renovations to the Senior Library. The college says it is “the intention” that he will return to his position. However, no timeline was provided for the return of the portrait or the restoration.
The Telegraph has learned that the wall where the painting originally hung has been repainted and other portraits have now been placed on the wall. The Beaufort piece remains almost 80 miles away in Gloucestershire.
Not likely to return
Some academics doubt the portrait will ever make a return trip to Oriel, with one telling the Telegraph: “It’s all tied up with the Rhodes saga. I think it’s true that it was changed as part of the renovation but whether it comes back is a different matter. This is the latest chapter in the Rhodes business at Oriel.” Another source said the college was “a complete microcosm of everything that is wrong with Oxford”.
“I don’t think it was ever about the picture. I think it was about who was in charge at Oriel,” they told the Telegraph.
“It is the cost of forming young minds properly. “These are stakes in a wider battle in Orialla and it is at the expense of a proper liberal questioning education, where certain topics are not allowed to be discussed.”
The Provost of Oriel, Lord Mendoza, has been in place since 2018 and took up the post following the meeting where Beaufort’s portrait was discussed. He was ultimately responsible for the decision to keep the statue of Rhodes in place. Lord Mendoza was appointed chairman of Historic England in 2023, an institution tasked with maintaining the national heritage.
Oriel did not comment when asked if any other pictures had been taken. He did not comment on previous attempts to remove the portrait from the college’s walls.
A spokesman did not elaborate on an earlier statement which said: “Due to our extensive refurbishment of our Senior Library where the Duke of Beaufort’s painting normally hangs, we have loaned the painting to Badminton House for safekeeping. “Yes, the painting is meant to return to the Senior Library.”
Dr von Klemperer and the Badminton Estate have been contacted for comment.
