Portrait of Otto Marstrand's two Daughters and their West-Indian Nanny, Justina Antoine, in the Frederiksberg Gardens near Copenhagen

The Black woman seen here is called Justina Antoine. Having been enslaved, she was bought by the branch of the Marstrand family that lived in the West Indies (now the US Virgin Islands). Justina saw the revolt in 1848 which forced the island authorities to abandon slavery against the will of the Danish king. After the rebellion, the idea of selling the islands was widely debated in Denmark. The painting has Justina, now free and working as a nanny, pose as a living Danish flag in red and white. Perhaps the painting was a partisan contribution to the public debate? ‘Justina should continue to live under the Danish flag’. In a referendum held in 1915 – the first in Denmark where women had the right to vote – the Danes voted ‘yes’ to the islands being sold. The population on the islands had no vote. ‘Justina’ means justice. Was there any justice for Justina? Did she ask to be painted the way we see her here? Do her eyes offer a glimpse of the many hardships and violations she endured? The inhabitants of the islands, which were sold to the United States in 1917, still do not have the right to vote in American presidential elections (50 Favorites in the SMK Collection).