This oil painting is called ‘Daru off Elmina Castle’ and was painted in 1958 by John Stobart. Elmina is a castle or fort built by the Portuguese as a trading base in 1482 on the Cape Coast, West Africa (now Ghana). Daru is the name of the modern ship seen in the background. Elmina became the headquarters for the Dutch slave trade in 1637, and was later seized by the British.
Elmina Castle is still standing today. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is visited as a tourist attraction as well as being treated as a site of memory by those seeking to come to terms with the history and legacy of transatlantic slavery.
© National Museums Liverpool
Accession reference: National Museums Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery LI 92.6.10
Themes
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Trade and Commerce
Understand how the demand for luxury goods and the Industrial Revolution fuelled the transatlantic slave trade, and how the British…
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Atlantic Crossing
Understand how people were treated on the slave ships and the extent to which they suffered on the journey across the Atlantic Ocean…