An elderly man in a dark frock coat and pale striped trousers sits in a carved wooden armchair at the center of an elaborate allegorical composition, his right hand raised to his chin in a reflective pose. The photographic portrait has been combined with engraved or painted allegorical imagery to produce a composite cabinet card, a format practiced by the Neurdein house, which moved rapidly from straightforward studio portraiture to the publishing of historical portraits and pictorial editions. The imprint at the lower center of the mount reads "E. Neurdein, Edt. à Paris," placing the card within the early editorial production of the firm directed by Étienne Neurdein (1832–1918) and Louis-Antonin Neurdein (1846–1914), photographers, publishers, and printers.

The seated man wears a white bow tie against a dark waistcoat, his jacket lapels wide and his expression calm. Behind him, a luminous allegorical female figure stands holding an olive branch and a sword, surrounded by vignettes of commerce and industry: a locomotive crossing a viaduct, sailing ships on a harbor, a farmer plowing with oxen at the right, a nursing family group at the lower right, and an allegory of France personified by a draped female figure resting against a globe inscribed "France" at the left. At the base of the composition, three intertwined sea dragons or serpents writhe beneath the sitter's feet.

The title printed in bold red capital letters along the lower mount reads "La France en Paix" (France in Peace), framing the image as a political allegory of prosperity, domestic harmony, and national order. The Neurdein house began with the editing of historical portraits and portrait work through 1870, and this composite allegorical card is consistent with that early period of production, likely dating to the late 1860s or early 1870s when such politically charged allegorical imagery circulated widely in France.

The reverse is plain and unmarked. The lower margin of the mount bears, in the imprint area: "La France en Paix / E. Neurdein, Edt. à Paris" (France in Peace / E. Neurdein, Publisher, Paris). The reverse bears pencil notations reading "6/03/09," "LOCABZ," and "Eb."