Zwart belicht

Zwart belicht discloses the black figures on the paintings of Peter Paul Rubens and some artists from his immediate circle. The film casts a new light on famous and less famous artworks, but also on our history and culture. Zwart belicht is partly based on an investigation by art historian Esther Schreuder, who six years ago launched a large-scale search for the black figures that had so far been overlooked by art historians. Many works exhibit these characters in a conspicuous and prominent way. Once alerted to them, these images confront, confuse and raise questions. In the course of the film, it becomes ever clearer how stereotyping limits our field of vision and particularly that outside that limited field of vision a lot is to be discovered.