Scipio Moorhead

Scipio Moorhead’s artistic presence in colonial Boston is documented through Phillis Wheatley’s 1773 poetry, which references his paintings and suggests a shared creative exchange. Scholars have proposed that his artistic training may have been supported by Sarah Moorhead, an art teacher and wife of Reverend John Moorhead, who is believed to have owned Scipio. Although no signed works survive, some researchers speculate that Moorhead may have engraved Wheatley’s portrait for her published book. His visibility as an enslaved artist challenges assumptions about Black creative absence in early America and contributes to broader discussions of African diasporic aesthetics. ==See also==