At lower center the title of the image is printed. Stamp of V. Prouvé (Lugt 5352) on verso, with the date 6 December 1944.
Watermark: none.
This curious image is an anonymous copy of a popular print inspired, according to contemporary accounts, by a miniature portrait by Aimée Thibault of Napoléon II (1811-1832). The portrait once adorned a round ornamental box presented in 1814 to the boy's father, Emperor Napoléon I, by his mother, Empress Marie-Louise of Austria. Subsequently, it was engraved and distributed at Napoleon's request that same year. The first engraving executed after Thibault's portrait depicted the child wearing a Polish uniform and bearing the caption "Dieu veille sur mon père et sur la France" (God watch over my father and France). It was at Napoleon's behest that the uniform was changed to that of the French National Guard and the caption revised to read "I pray to God for my father, and for France."
A small boy kneeling in prayer, dressed in the uniform of the French National Guard, with a sword at his side.