The sculpture of El Negret, which is part of the MNAT collection, has inspired the sculptural piece "Far Libertas" by the artist Fernando Sánchez Castillo, carried out on November 13 as part of the cycle El Que Queda Després of the Centre d'Arts Contemporànies de Tarragona Mèdol. Until November 30, the result can be seen installed on the Portal de Sant Antoni in Tarragona.
El Negret is a bronze lampstand dated between the first and second centuries that would be part of a domus furniture in the residential area of Tarraco. It represents a young Ethiopian slave holding a tray where the lamps were placed to illuminate the room. The piece is currently on display at the Tarraco/MNAT synthesis exhibition in Tinglado 4 of the Moll de Costa in Tarragona.
Sánchez Castillo's proposal links it to the proportions of the colossal statue of Augustus in Tarraco, and he has reproduced the statue's head on this scale. In this way, he intends to turn the perspective around and place the figure of the slave at the same level as that of the emperor. The head also functions as a lighthouse that emits messages in Morse code towards the Mediterranean.
The lampadario is a piece that has traditionally attracted the attention of artists and the general public. For example, in 1987 it was the subject of a reinterpretation by photographer Manuel Serra for the exhibition "Tarraco: objeto e imagen", and, a year later, it was even the main feature of the poster for the Sitges Fantastic Film Festival.
