Focus on this artwork and explore the Depiction of black subjects.
The piece was initially received as being an example of Winslow Homer's shift towards realism in the depiction of black subjects, turning away from caricature. A contemporary critic wrote, "Mr. Homer is one of the few men who have been successful in painting the negro character without exaggerating or caricaturing it."Much modern critical commentary on the piece focuses on the twofold racial implications found within the work, both in the subject of the painting (a white woman, presumably a former slaveowner, standing with her former slaves), and in the very act of the composition of the work itself (Winslow Homer, a white Northerner, creating an image of black Southerners). The early Homer biographer William Howe Downes stated, "the three former slaves are observed and described most vividly and keenly. In their solemnity of demeanor, the humility of their expression, and the evident awe which the presence of the old mistress inspires, there is a blending of pathos and humor, which belongs to the situation, and is all the better for not having been injected into it." Later commentators, such as art historian Jo-Ann Morgan, have incorporated these observations into more critical analyses of the painting. Morgan writes that Homer's "representations of African-Americans as ragged women" were designed to reassure white viewers that there was "no potential to upset existing hierarchies of power." According to this interpretation, "Homer let viewers feel good that slavery was ended, while assuring them that the plantation system persisted. Mapping distinctions in physiques—mistress aloof, ex-slaves slumped; dress—hers fine, theirs ragged; and site—the same old cabin; A Visit from the Old Mistress fixed in place a lateral hierarchy."
This understanding of the painting is challenged by other modern critics such as Sidney Kaplan, who writes: 
A blonde, curled mistress, with parasol and lace, seems to expect 'friendship' from her former slaves, but the black matriarch, her great arms at her sides, stands like a cofferdam. She is scarcely a Jemima—not even a Faulknerian Dilsey. Her glance is rejection, a withering of the white delusion of her simplicity, while the eyes and mouths of her family shadow forth nuances of her dignity, scorn, and restraint. 
Kaplan argues that the painting is neither a humorous scene, nor a manifestation of blatant white supremacy—rather, it embraces black identity, now freed from the bonds of slavery, and highlights both the "dignity" and independence of the black community, while revealing "a silent tension between two communities seeking to understand their future."
Winslow Homer