at Bethnal Green Museum, London, 1872, No. 172 ; at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, London, 1889, No. 153. Possibly identical with "A Moor" occurring in the inventory of the effects of the Amsterdam dealer Johannes de Renialme, June 27, 1657, No. 300 (valued at 12 florins) ; see Hofstede de Groot, Urkunden über Rembrandt, No. 177. Sales—(Possibly), London, 1772 (Ľ5 : 17 : 6, Marquess of Carnarvon). Duke of Buckingham, Stowe, August 15, 1848, No. 410 (Ľ263 : I I S., S. M. Mawson, for Lord Hertford). In the collection of the Marquess of Hertford, London. In the Wallace Collection, London, 1913 catalogue, No. 238." Identity of sitter Two inscriptions for the portrait exist. The first, an engraving by Cornelis Visscher (c.1648) reads: "Dus heft den Moor met pijl en Boogh / Den vyandt of het wilt in't oogh" (Thus lifts the Moor his bow and arrow / The enemy [or wildlife] to eye) In the 1750 reproduction of Visscher's portrait, held at the British Museum and published by George Pulley of London, the caption below describes the archer as an American Indian, replacing the word Moor for Indian, the words being interchangeable at the time: Thus Arm’d, the Indian with his Dart & Bow / Pursues with eager Eye, his Woodland Foe Rembrandt also portrayed people of African origin, including black soldiers and figures in armour. It is not known whether the boy was a model, in the army, or a huntsman of a Dutch country estate. Art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon wrote of the subject of A Young Archer in 2004 that Whether the young man painted by Flinck was actually from the Sudan, or not, it seems likely that the painter intended to show him as a living embodiment of the proud, martial spirit of the Nubian race – a poignant contrast to his actual situation, as a first-generation African slave...The solemn, thoughtful humanity of Flinck's portrayal makes it unusual, among early Western European depictions of black Africans, suggesting at the very least a bond between the artist and the sitter. The 1750 reproduction of Visscher's portrait, published by George Pulley of London, describes the subject as an Indian, presumably of American origin. References 1640 paintings Black people in art Paintings in the Wallace Collection Paintings by Govaert Flinck