A re-interpreted portrait of Welsh slave owner Thomas Picton has been displayed as part of a new exhibition at the National Museum Cardiff after it was removed last year. A community-led exhibition, 'Reframing Picton', is now on show at the museum, featuring newly-commissioned artworks alongside the portrait.
The portrait of the Lieutenant-General was taken down from the Faces of Wales gallery at the museum last year and had been kept in storage. Picton had previously been celebrated as a Welsh war hero and was the highest-ranking officer to die at the Battle of Waterloo, but criticism of his role in the slave trade caused the portrait to be removed.
As governor of Trinidad in the 1790s and early 1800s, Picton was cruel in his treatment of Black enslaved people and even authorised the use of torture on local people, including a 14-year-old girl, Luisa Calderone.
