“Cape of Execution”: The gallows at the Cape of Good Hope as represented in the colonial art of Johannes Rach and Lady Anne Barnard Russel Viljoen University of South Africa Email:
[email protected] During the eighteenth century, the Cape Colony developed into a violent society in every sense of the word. The type of crimes committed by perpetrators, the sentences imposed by the colonial authorities and the Court of Justice were equally violent. The depiction of the gallows by colonial artists has provided scholars with new insights on South Africa’s past, especially with regard to the increase in violence and the punishment faced by the condemned. Key words: execution, gallows, Lady Anne Barnard, Johannes Rach, colonial art “Kaap van Teregstelling”: die galg aan die Kaap die Goeie Hoop soos voorgestel in the koloniale kuns van Johannes Rach en Lady Anne Barnard Gedurende die agtiende-eeu het die Kaapkolonie ontwikkel in ’n geweldadige samelewing in elke sin van die woord. Die tipe misdade wat gepleeg is deur oortreeders en die strawwe wat opgelê is deur die koloniale outoriteite en die Raad van Justisie was eweneens geweldadig. Die uitbeelding van die galg deur koloniale kunstenaars, het skoliere voorsien van nuwe insigte aangaande die Suid- Afrikaanse verlede, veral met betrekking tot die toename in geweld en die straf wat die veroordeeldes in die oë gestaar het. Sleutelwoorde: teregstelling, galg, Lady Anne Barnard, Johannes Rach, koloniale kuns key aspect of uncovering South Africa’s colonial past over the last few decades was this pre-occupation of scholars: how violent the Cape society was in terms of social A relations, the institution of slavery and the overall administration of justice at the Cape.