Black Dandyism, the 2025 Met Gala’s Theme, Has Its Roots in 18th-Century Painting

A young Black boy, wearing deep red livery with gold trimming, a gold earring, and red-and-white turban secured with a jeweled brooch, stares out at the viewer. Standing before a ship at sea, he hands a letter, addressed to “Monsieur le chevalier de Rohan, captain of the King’s ships at Rochefort,” to an older white man, dressed in regal-looking steel armor. Painted in 1758 by the workshop of Jean-Marc Nattier, this portrait commemorates Louis-Armand-Constantin de Rohan’s