In the Late 19^th century artists became more and more interested in portraying people from the African continent. It is undeniable that when these works were exhibited their racial significance were present when surrounded by images of white people before a white public. Most of the time the identities of the sitters were kept unknown.  Their role was to depict characters or simply be an unknown model admired for their decorative quality. As is the case for the sitter in our drawing. We don’t know his name or where he came from neither do we know anything else about the artist, but our model is beautifully portrayed his striking features drawn sensitively and with care. We are aware of another portrait of this man wearing the same attributes, a white shirt with a wide collar and a fez hat on his head.  We assume that he was probably an artist model working in the late 19^th century. Or maybe he was just a young man asked to sit for a life drawing class. We will most likely never find out.