Hilaire, a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, was one of several artists employed by the Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier, the French ambassador in Istanbul, 1784-1792. He had accompanied the Comte on an earlier visit to Greece and Turkey in 1776-79, and contributed numerous illustrations to his publication Voyage Pittoresque de la Grèce, Paris, 1782.

The Albanians were popularly supposed to be some of the fiercest warriors in the Ottoman dominions, and were frequently depicted by travellers who could easily recognise their distinctive costume. Hilair was a meticulous draftsman, using the traditional technique of fine pen and ink drawing, coloured with careful washes of watercolour. Here he has shown in fine detail such things as the splendid coat, the tasselled cap, the embroidered bag, the patterned leggings, and the enormously long çubuk, or cornel-wood tobacco pipe. However, Hilair reminds his audience of the martial nature of this Albanian by indicating the partly visible barrel of his long musket, although the rear view does not permit illustration of the sword, dagger and pistols, normally carried in the belt or sash.