Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke (1800–1891) served as Chief of Staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years and is regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter nineteenth century. This profile-view carte de visite, produced by the Parisian studio of E. Neurdein at 28 Boulevard de Sébastopol, captures him in full military dress and dates to circa 1870, consistent with the studio's documented period of portrait activity at that address before it ceased portraiture work entirely after 1871.

The subject is shown in strict left-profile, wearing a dark tunic with a high collar and shoulder epaulettes bearing prominent white bullion fringe. His Pickelhaube is richly appointed with an elaborate eagle and wreath plate, a chin-strap, and a spike finial, all consistent with senior Prussian officer dress of the era. The face is strongly modeled in three-quarter light, showing a clean-shaven jaw with a cropped mustache and the composed, reserved expression for which Moltke was widely known.

As Chief of Staff, Moltke led Prussian and German forces through the Wars of Unification, commanding against Denmark in 1864, Austria in 1866, and France in 1870. After the Franco-Prussian War, he became a major national hero and celebrity, and portraits such as this one circulated widely as part of the broader public appetite for images of Germany's most celebrated military commander.

The reverse bears the printed imprint in red: "E. Neurdein / 28, Bould de Sébastopol / Paris" with the legend "Portraits, Vues, Reproductions." Inscribed in pencil in a later hand: "Prussian Field Marshall General von Moltke circa 1870." Also inscribed: "3/02/07," "COLBXZ," and "Eb."