Nineteenth century documentation proves conclusively that the statues taken down by the Shelbourne Hotel do not depict slave girls, an art historian has said. However, Nubian slave statues were usually male nudes and were depicted in poses of servitude. The Shelbourne Hotel statues are of well-dressed females in an enlightened pose, he stressed. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons“Verdi was writing Aida about a Nubian slave at precisely the time the Shelbourne was being built. That description was published in her 1951 book on the Shelbourne Hotel.

Source: The Irish Times July 31, 2020 09:33 UTC