Portrait of young slave in republican suit Contributor: Nantes History Museum, Castle of the Dukes of Brittany

This is a portrait of a young black servant wearing a necklace of servitude, a three-colored (French) dress, and a hat with the republican cockade. By voting for the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August 1789, the National Assembly proclaimed: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” However, the question of slavery and the slave trade was little discussed in the debates and slavery in French colonies remained a cruel reality. It was not until the law of 16th Pluviôse the year II (on February 4, 1794) that the Republic granted full freedom to its former slaves.