Laura Dianti with a Black Page 1600 - 1627

This engraving of Laura Dianti with a Black Page was made by Aegidius Sadeler II around the turn of the 17th century. In it, we see a finely dressed noblewoman with her hand resting on the shoulder of a young black boy. Sadeler was based in Prague, but Dianti was a well-known figure in Ferrara. She was the mistress, and likely later the wife, of Duke Alfonso d’Este I. What can we infer from this image about the politics of imagery, and the social conditions that shaped it? The presence of the boy tells us something about Italian aristocratic households at the time. Black servants were a signifier of wealth, while also serving as a constant reminder of racial hierarchies. But the image also speaks to the politics of court portraiture. Sadeler never met Laura Dianti. His print was based on a painting by Titian, suggesting the central role of art in the construction of the Duke's image. As historians, we turn to such details when trying to reconstruct past social and political formations.