Frederick, Duke of Schomberg, was a military commander who served in many armies throughout Europe, and fittingly, he is portrayed in armor mounted on a horse near a battlefield. Schomberg fought with distinction. Not only is he elevated in this equestrian portrait, but also a servant holds his helmet illustrating the duke’s noble status. The presence of black servants in portraits were indicative of increasingly imperialist attitudes among Europeans in the second half of the seventeenth century.