Engraving of François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti. Whole length with curled wig, lace tie, armour, sash, and fur mantle. The Prince is pictured standing, holding a baton in left hand and with right resting on a plumed helmet on a table to the left. To the right, the Prince is attended by a Black page, depicted holding the mantle, with columns and drapery behind. With coat of arms and French inscription below, including publisher's address 'Se Vend a Paris chez P. Drevet rue du Foin devant le grand Portail des Mathurins.' Cut down. For another impression see RCIN 630690.

The Black servant is unlikely to represent an identifiable individual. Instead, the inclusion of Black figures as servants, attendants, or enslaved people in portraits of European sitters was a common visual trope. The submissive presence of such figures (often shown in acts of service such as holding clothes, umbrellas or trays) was deployed as a visual status symbol. The Black figures often emphasise the status of the main sitter by being positioned behind or looking up to them, establishing a physical as well as a racial hierarchy. These figures are often dressed in clothing considered ‘exotic’ by contemporary Europeans such as turbans, silks, and caftans, further representing the luxurious fantasy and wealth that was felt to be embodied by the Black presence.Their presence also asserts the global power of the sitter through reference to the buying and selling of human beings as goods in the transatlantic slave trade: the boy in this print is wearing a slave collar.