A vibrant miniature of Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, painted by Gustav von Mardefeld, Prussian envoy to Petersburg. Peter is shown standing on the battlefield patting the head of the African attendant who holds Peter's helmet.
To increase Peter's stature literally and figuratively, the boy is depicted as very young. He has been identified as Abraham of Ibrahim Hannibal ( c1696-1781) who was kidnapped in Africa and adopted by [or presented to] Peter. He later became chief military engineer in the Russian Army. Alexander Pushkin was Hannibal's great-grandson, so there is an unusual amount of information.
But like so many, this ID may well be wishful. The portrait dates from around 1720 when Hannibal was in his 20s. Even if the image could have included a representation of Hannibal as he might have been on arrival in Russia, this cannot be a portrait of him as a boy. If painted from life, the sitter was yet another unnamed young African, shown in finery to enhance his companion's superiority.
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