An outdoor group portrait of female Paris Commune prisoners held at the Prison des Chantiers in Versailles, photographed on August 15, 1871, by Ernest-Charles Appert, working from his Paris studio at 24 rue Taitbout. Appert gained exclusive access to the makeshift prison at Versailles and documented its prisoners, and this cabinet card belongs to his landmark documentary series on the Commune's aftermath. The albumen print is mounted on a titled card bearing the "Portrait Album" imprint with the "E. Appert, Phot. Expert" credit and the notice "Reproduction interdite."

More than fifty women are arranged across an open courtyard, many standing in dark full-skirted dresses with white aprons or collars, others seated on the ground in the foreground. Improvised canvas awnings stretch along a rubble-strewn wall in the background, and a low stone farm building is visible at the right. The women's poses range from upright and composed to weary and seated, and the caption printed directly into the image identifies individual figures by name across the lower margin. Louise Michel appears at the right, standing with arms crossed.

In 1871, the events of the Paris Commune led the authorities to use the building as a prison to hold Communards, and particularly the women of the movement, who were labeled "pétroleuses," with Louise Michel being one of the most notable inmates. Appert was known for producing a series of photographs titled "Crimes de la Commune" meant to discredit the Communards, and this image, assembled from individual prisoner portraits, circulated widely as both documentation and propaganda.

Printed caption on the recto reads: "PRISON DES CHANTIERS A VERSAILLES. LE 15 AOUT 1871." (Prison of the Chantiers at Versailles. August 15, 1871.) Names printed below identify: Marie Guyard, Rose Bocquin, Hortense David, Aline Accard, Anna Rotchild, Marie Leroy, Marie Moussu, Joséphine Marchais, Isabelle Rétif, Louise Michel, Eulalie Papavoine, Marie Chiffon, Anne Menan, and Léontine Suetens. The reverse bears the full Appert studio imprint identifying him as "Peintre Photographe de S.M. la Reine d'Espagne, de S.A.I. le Grand Duc Constantin, Expert près le Tribunal de la Seine," 24 Rue Taitbout, Paris, with four silver medal medallions dated 1853, 1855, 1859, and 1867.