Alfred Dreyfus, born October 9, 1859, in Mulhouse, France, was a French army officer whose trial for treason ignited a 12-year controversy, known as the Dreyfus Affair, that profoundly shaped the political and social history of the French Third Republic. This cabinet card portrait was made by C. Gerschel at 23, Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, and a closely related Gerschel portrait of Dreyfus taken on September 27, 1899, was made in the garden of Joseph Valabrègue, Dreyfus's brother-in-law, at Carpentras, shortly after he had been pardoned. The mount's reference to the Exposition Universelle of 1900 and Gerschel's medals won there help date this example to the same period.

The subject is shown in three-quarter view, seated and turned slightly to his left, gazing upward with a composed expression. He wears a dark wool frock coat over a white shirt and dark four-in-hand necktie, with white cuffs visible at the wrist. He is bald with close-cropped grey hair at the temples, a prominent dark mustache, and wears rimless pince-nez spectacles. Foliage fills the background, suggesting the portrait was taken in an outdoor garden setting.

Dreyfus was eventually exonerated in 1906, and was readmitted to the army with a promotion to Major, then made a Knight of the Legion of Honor a week later. Despite the toll his imprisonment on Devil's Island had taken on his health, he returned to serve in the French army during World War I and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel by the war's end.

The reverse bears a pencil inscription at the top reading "Alfred Dreyfus / (1859–1935) / French Army Officer," along with a stamped catalog notation: "Row F / Number 1022." The mount carries the printed Gerschel studio imprint, the Diplôme d'Honneur seal from the École Polytechnique centennial of 1894, six medal awards in gold, silver, and vermeil, and the notation "Médaille d'Argent / Expo. Univ. Paris 1900." A copyright notice in French and English reads: "Reproduction interdite / Copyright by C. Gerschel." Additional manuscript notations at the bottom read "11/31/12," "R. Dechavannes, Paris," "Lodefz," and "Eb."