The Oath of the Ancestors
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| The Oath of the Ancestors | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Guillaume Guillon-Lethière |
| Year | 1822 |
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 400 cm × 300 cm (160 in × 120 in) |
| Location | Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien, Port-au-Prince |
The Oath of the Ancestors (Le Serment des ancêtres) is an 1822 oil-on-canvas painting by French Neoclassical artist Guillaume Guillon-Lethière. The painting depicts two of Haiti’s founding revolutionaries, mixed-race general Alexandre Pétion and Black general Jean-Jacques Dessalines at a decisive moment in the Haitian Revolution. The two generals are seen forming an alliance in 1802 to oust French forces from the island. The men are seen looking up to a God-like figure above them as chaos ensues in the background.
Lethière made this painting to celebrate the birth of the nation of Haiti and acknowledge his racial identity as a mixed-race French man of Caribbean descent.[1]: 294 Lethière gave the painting to the Haitian government in 1823,[2]: 379 recognizing the country's fight for independence.[1]: 294 The painting was found in the ruins of the presidential palace in the Haitian capital following the 2010 Haiti earthquake and was restored by the Louvre. Currently, it is held by the Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.[3]
Lethière was born in Guadeloupe to Marie-Françoise Pepeye, a free person of color, and Pierre Guillon, a French Royal Notary.[1]: 294 A member of the elite class of people of color living in France, Lethière was a well respected and successful painter.[4]: 118 However, Lethière had been confronted with the reality of his Creole past as a mixed-race man living in France when the right to have Guillon included in his name was legally contested in 1819 by a man who said Lethière was born out of adultery, making him an illegitimate son of Guillon.[1]: 294 Lethière created this painting towards the end of his life to align himself with and celebrate the Black and mulatto revolutionaries in Haiti who bravely came together to fight against French forces.[5]: 212
Composition and analysis
The painting depicts two Haitian revolutionary leaders, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a formerly enslaved man, and Alexandre Pétion, a mixed-race officer, holding onto each other as they look up to a God-like figure in the sky. This gesture symbolizes solidarity and cooperation between different racial groups in the fight for Haiti’s independence.[5]: 211 The two men are standing on top of chains to symbolize the ending of slavery in Haiti, which was, according to the painting, accomplished due to the bravery of Pètion, Dessalines, and the soldiers in the background.[1]: 294
Though this painting represents the freedom of people of color due to their own resilience, Lethière still positions them under the authority of a "white father".[1]: 298 Lethière made this painting as a gift to the Haitians as a recognition of all they went through at the hands of white men, but some scholars argue that the large white, God-like figure sends a message that a white, patriarchal figure still presides over the new nation.[1]: 298 This divine figure stands as a reminder that Haitian independence, despite its success, remains incomplete without acknowledgment from France, the "white father" figure.[5]: 213
Other scholars say Lethière included the divine figure above the men with their eyes pointed towards heaven because Toussaint L'Ouverture, the most prominent leader in the Haitian Revolution, proclaimed The Haitian Constitution of 1801, the island's first constitution.[2]: 385 The constitution banned slavery and was attributed by L'Ouverture to the protection of a divine figure in a speech where he stated that Haitians should thank God for the gift of freedom.[2]: 385 This may be why Lethière depicts the men listening to, and repeating, an oath from the God figure, which appears to be inscribed on the stela between them.[2]: 386 From what is visible, the inscription reads, "Freedom, Religion, Laws, Constitution", "Live free or die", and "Strength through unity".[2]: 386
Additionally, for the first time in his professional career, Lethière added text following his signature, perhaps as a form of protest and as an acknowledgment of his identity, saying: "Born in Guadeloupe. Year 1760."[6]: 66
