Céremonie du Bois Caïman II (Revolution of Saint-Domingue, Haiti, 1791)

Ulrick Jean-Pierre, artist

born 1955

Céremonie du Bois Caïman II (Revolution of Saint-Domingue, Haiti, 1791), 1995

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: canvas; oil

Credit line: Courtesy of Dr. Fritz G. Fidèle

Accession number: EL2018.096

Not on display

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On the night of August 14, 1791, an assembly of Maroon leaders and slaves met in the Bois Caïman Forest. Led by the two central figures in Jean-Pierre’s painting, Vodou priestess (manbo) Cecile Fatima and priest (hougan) Boukman Dutty, the slaves swore to fight for their freedom, even if it meant their deaths. To seal this pact of solidarity, a pig—which Fatima stands over in the painting—was sacrificed. This ceremony solidified the slave conspiracy to revolt. By the next morning, plantations in Haiti’s northern plain were on fire. The revolution had begun.