How to rewrite history, his name was Bélizaire
Family or Property? What the painting suggests
The story of Bélizaire still lingers with me—it's hard to put into words. He feels like he wasn’t just an enslaved child; he was family, possibly even the son of Mr. Frey.
At the time, commissioned artworks rarely portrayed enslaved people as anything more than objects. Think of Manet’s Olympia, for example—where the presence of an enslaved figure is both visible and invisible, treated as a background element, reduced to an object through the painting’s title, composition, and use of color.
But in Bélizaire and the Frey Children, Bélizaire is not shown as an object or a servant. He is dressed in fine clothing, which, while not unheard of for enslaved people working in wealthy households, its still striking here. In this painting, Bélizaire appears as the eldest child. He stands slightly apart, leaning against a tree, while his younger siblings are positioned more prominently in the foreground. His presence feels central, dignified, and quietly powerful.
Bélizaire's story is deeply moving and emblematic of how art can both obscure history. He was a young boy of African descent who was enslaved in the household of the Frey family in New Orleans during the 19th century. His image appears in a painting called Bélizaire and the Frey Children, which was originally created around 1837 by an unknown artist.
What makes this story remarkable is that Bélizaire was originally painted alongside the Frey children—”his enslavers”—but at some point in the 19th or early 20th century, he was deliberately painted out of the portrait. His figure was covered over, effectively erased from history. In recent years, art historian and the team see video below helped rediscover Bélizaire’s image careful restoration. Through that process, Bélizaire was brought back into the painting—and into the historical narrative. The painting, now restored, presents a rare and powerful example of an enslaved child being depicted not as a background figure or servant, but as someone who shares space with white children in a familial setting.
While there’s no definitive documentary proof my theory that Bélizaire was Mr. Frey's biological son, my interpretation is entirely valid, especially given how much visual art can reveal about social dynamics and hidden truths. Let's look at the painting as a kind of evidence:
Bélizaire isn’t placed in the background or as a servant figure. He’s right there among the Frey children, and notably, he appears to be the oldest—often a position of subtle authority or prominence in family portraits.
He’s dressed in fine, carefully painted clothing. For an enslaved child to be dressed this way—and shown with the same attention to detail and dignity as the white children—is extremely rare for the time. It implies a level of care and status that goes beyond what we’d expect from a typical master-slave relationship.
Bélizaire’s posture—leaning calmly against a tree—and his gaze are composed & confident, not subservient. He doesn't look like an outsider to the group, but rather part of it.
In most historical paintings, enslaved people are treated as mere objects—background figures who serve to highlight the wealth, beauty, or status of white subjects. Like we have said earlier a prime example is Manet’s Olympia (1863), where the Black maid is unnamed, marginalized, and visually contrasted with the reclining white nude.
Her presence is both hyper-visible and completely erased: she's painted, but she’s not the subject.
This kind of depiction was common:
Enslaved people were often shown without identity or individuality.
They were placed in subordinate positions—standing, serving, or in the shadows.
Their role was to enhance the status of the white subject, never to share it.
What’s especially diffferent in this painting is that Bélizaire is not just included—he is shown with presence, dignity, and individuality.
That’s why Bélizaire and the Frey Children is so exceptional:
Bélizaire is not serving anyone.
He’s dressed equally well, with care and detail.
He stands with a presence that suggests belonging—not servitude.
This contrast helps support your belief that Bélizaire was more than just an enslaved child. In visual language, the painting treats him as part of the family, not property.I would add that the fact that he was sold right after the death of Mr Frey is really telling.