Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, born Princess Maximiliane Wilhelmine Auguste Sophie Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (1824–1880), consort of Emperor Alexander II, is portrayed in this albumen carte-de-visite produced at the celebrated St. Petersburg studio of Sergei Lvovich Levitsky. Levitsky opened his studio at 30 Moika Street upon returning to St. Petersburg in 1865, and was awarded the title of court photographer to Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna in 1877, making him the pre-eminent imperial portraitist of the era. The card dates from the period of the Moika address, consistent with the studio imprint visible on the mount.

The subject is rendered in a three-quarter bust view, turned slightly to her left, with a composed and steady gaze. Her hair is dressed in a full mass of tight ringlet curls piled high and falling to the sides, a fashionable coiffure of the late 1860s to mid-1870s. She wears a dark silk bodice with a broad V-shaped overlay of the same fabric, a sheer dotted-net chemisette beneath, a delicate lace collar at the throat, and a rounded brooch at the center of the neckline.

Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II and mother of Alexander III, served as patroness of many charitable organizations in Russia, including the Red Cross, and with her assistance schools and girls' colleges were established across the country. Following the death of Dowager Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna in 1860, she headed the Mariinsky gymnasiums and educational institutions, dedicating herself to charity and women's education.

The reverse is inscribed in pencil "Empress of Russia." The mount verso bears the Cyrillic studio imprint reading "Левицкій / на Мойкѣ, 30. С. Петербургъ." ("Levitsky / at Moika, 30. St. Petersburg.").