This formal throne portrait of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia (r. 1889–1913) was likely made in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Adwa, 1 March 1896, in which Ethiopian forces defeated the invading Italian army — the most decisive defeat of a European colonial force by an African nation in the nineteenth century. The emperor is shown in full imperial regalia: the jeweled crown, the embroidered Kabba lanqa robe, and scepter. The photographer is unidentified, though several European advisors and diplomats at the Addis Ababa court had access to photographic equipment in this period, among them Alfred Ilg (1854–1916), the Swiss engineer and minister of state to Menelik who introduced the emperor to photography. Menelik understood the political value of the formal portrait and directed photographers on how he was to be depicted. This photogravure belongs to a body of imperial images produced in the years following Adwa, in which the insignia of office were deployed deliberately to project sovereignty to both domestic and international audiences at a moment of heightened global attention to Ethiopia.

It is doubtful this print was ever published as no other examples can be located and it lacks the typical title and credit accompanying published photogravures from the period.