Lady with a Moorish boy

A young lady in a voluminous dress exposing her bare shoulder is pressing a dark-skinned boy in a decorative livery to herself, in order to pierce his ear with a long needle.¹ Her cheerful expression shows how very much she is enjoying the physical contact with the boy, who is gazing up at her either expectantly or fearfully. 

The scene depicted here is uncomfortable for today’s observer for two reasons: the erotic undertone, coupled with the lady’s clear position of power over the boy, reveals the feeling of superiority enjoyed by the European world over “foreigners” from the Orient, Africa and America. 

At the beginning of the slave trade, Moors – dark-skinned boys or young men – were often brought (sometimes by force) to the courts of Europe to serve as valets or pages. They were regarded as exotic objects of prestige, status symbols demonstrating the ruler’s high rank and far-flung trade and power relations. At the same time, they were frequently dressed very grandly and satisfied their master’s desire for “curiosities”. 

Klingstedt’s miniatures fed the predilection of the time for gallant subjects. The artist did not present individual people, but generally repeated the subject of a young beauty flirting.²