Portrait of a Genius: The Extraordinary Story of Francis Williams
Fara Dabhoiwala, 4 December 2024
In 1928, the V&A acquired a previously unknown portrait. It shows the Black Jamaican polymath Francis Williams (c. 1690-1762), dressed in a wig, surrounded by books and scientific instruments. Fara Dabhoiwala reveals the astonishing story of the painting’s true meaning, its connections to the greatest scientists of the Enlightenment — and Francis Williams’s extraordinary message to posterity.