Fake or Fortune? Catch up, Series 7: 4. A Double Whodunnit on BBC 1

Fake or Fortune?

Series 7: 4. A Double Whodunnit

In this episode, Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate two rare portraits of black British subjects from the 18th and 19th centuries.\n\nPainted with extraordinary skill and sophistication, both pictures are highly unusual in their positive depiction of black sitters at a time when Britain was still heavily engaged in slavery.\n\nBut this is also an intriguing double whodunnit. Who are the artists who broke with the conventions of the time to paint these exceptional works?\n\nThe first case is a double portrait featuring Dido Belle, a former slave who became a member of the aristocratic Mansfield family. The painting is on display at Scone Palace in Scotland and was commissioned by the first Lord Mansfield, Dido Belle’s guardian, sometime in the late 1770s or early 1780s at the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In recent years, Belle’s incredible story has inspired books and a feature film about her life. Now the current Lady Mansfield is determined to discover the name of the artist who painted her.\n\nThe second painting is even more unusual – two beautifully dressed black girls holding a book in what appears to be a tropical landscape. Early clues suggest this could be a political painting somehow connected to the campaign to abolish slavery in Britain’s colonies. Could the sitters themselves be slaves, but if so why are they wearing such fine clothes? \n\nThe quest to solve both mysteries throws up some prime suspects from a golden era of British portraiture. But is new forensic and documentary evidence enough to convince a sceptical art world?

Source: BBC 1

Most recent episodes of Fake or Fortune?

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 10: 4. Flemish Old Master

Fiona and Philip visit a church in Port Glasgow to investigate whether a mysterious work depicting Christ after the crucifixion could be a lost masterpiece by one of the great p ...

24-10-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 12: 4. Corot

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a lovely landscape painting, purported to be by one of the forefathers of impressionism and one of the most important artists of the 19t ...

17-10-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 12: 3. Music Memorabilia

The team take on an entertaining new challenge when they plunge into the fast-growing market for rock music memorabilia. Can they prove that a curious silver guitar once belonge ...

10-10-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 12: 2. Helen Mcnicoll

Could a beautiful painting of women working in a field be a valuable lost work by Helen McNicoll, a celebrated impressionist artist from Canada? The quest to prove it takes the ...

03-10-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 12: 1. Mondrian

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a charming little white flower picture, purported to be by one of the most important abstract artists of the 20th century, Piet Mondrian ...

26-09-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 11: 4. Arshile Gorky

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a murky canvas that could be by Arshile Gorky, a pioneer of abstract expressionism. Works by this Armenian-American artist fetch million ...

28-08-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 11: 3. Cezanne And Pissarro

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould head to France on the trail of two of the greatest Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists, Camille Pissarro and his friend and protege, Paul C ...

21-08-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 11: 2. Joshua Reynolds

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould head to north London to meet Glyn Hopkin, a car dealer with a soft spot for art. He’s taken a gamble on a painting he hopes is by a towering f ...

26-07-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 8: 1. The Lost Gainsborough

The team investigate an 18th-century landscape: could it be a lost work by the great British master of landscape painting, Thomas Gainsborough? \n\nThe painting has been in the ...

24-06-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 11: 1. Elisabeth Frink

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould head to the beautiful Essex countryside on the trail of one of the 20th century’s greatest artists, Dame Elisabeth Frink. They are investigati ...

19-06-2024

BBC 1

All episodes