Skip to main content
Artist/Maker
Préfète Duffaut
(Haitian, 1923 - 2012)
Date1950-1959
MediumOil on masonite
DimensionsOverall: 23 × 10 in. (58.4 × 25.4 cm)
Frame: 25 3/4 × 11 3/4 × 2 in. (65.4 × 29.8 × 5.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Richard F. Plotka, Class of 1956
Object number1981.12
On view
DescriptionThis painting depicts a figure, most likely the artist Préfète Duffaut himself, performing a ritual to invite the lwa, the primary spirits of Vodou, into his life to help him achieve greatness. Vodou is an African diasporic religious practice and worldview that developed during the Atlantic slave trade, the product of the merging of West and Central African religions and Roman Catholicism. The white vèvè, or symbol, that can be seen on the bottom right is drawn during a ritual to invoke the lwa and compel specific spirits to reveal themselves. The three snakes that appear in the painting are manifestations of the divine energies of two of the most important lwa, Damballah, the powerful serpent deity, and his partner spirit Ayida Wedo, known as the Rainbow Serpent. The two snakes that appear from the bottom of the central figure’s clothing in place of legs suggest that this sacred energy is fundamental to the artist’s progression in life, while the green snake emerging from his upper chest symbolizes supreme knowledge and wisdom, the result of these energies combined. By depicting these snakes together, Duffaut collapses different stages of spiritual progression into one image, showing himself in the process of undertaking a ritual, moving toward greatness, and having attained what he seeks. This painting is also a depiction of a ritual and part of the ceremony itself: these images and symbols carry such energy that the painting serves as a tool for manifestation.
Collections
Additional Details
Alternate Titles
Voodoo Scene
Exhibition History
2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
1985
Clinton, NY (Hamilton College Collection, Emerson Gallery, Gallery II). July 9 - September 8, 1985.
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
1985
Clinton, NY (Hamilton College Collection, Emerson Gallery, Gallery II). July 9 - September 8, 1985.
Provenance
1981: Hamilton College (Root Art Center), by gift of Richard F. Plotka.
Signature
Recto, lower right: "P.V. Duffaut"
Inscribed
Verso, upper left (stretcher): "D - F - 4 14"; middle "2"
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: c. 332-250 BCE
Medium: Terracotta with remnants of pigment
Object number: 1943.20
Thomas Nast
Date: published February 6, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: S2019.2.103
Date: 19th century
Medium: Brass
Object number: 1994.40
Karen Hampton
Date: 2015
Medium: Dye-sublimation print on polyester twill over archival inkjet print on silk organza, with hand-stitching
Object number: 2015.4
Unknown artist, Chinese
Date: c. 618-907 CE
Medium: Red clay with remnants of pigment
Object number: 1994.58
Thomas Nast
Date: published April 1, 1876
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.317
Asad Faulwell
Date: 2022
Medium: Acrylic, pins and photo collage on canvas
Object number: 2022.7
Date: c. 883-859 BCE
Medium: Gypsum with remnants of red pigment
Object number: 1868.5