Rwanda, circa 1910
by Unidentified “Père Blanc” Missionary

The “Père Blanc” (literally white father) missionaries were a group of catholic priests who distinguished themselves in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with their ethnographic and geographic work in the interior of the African continent. This image, taken by an unidentified Père Blanc, shows the Rwandan King Musinga surrounded by a number of his wives. The richness of the fabrics, exoticism of the headgear and unusualness of the footwear offer a glimpse of the beauty of pre-colonial Rwanda.