François Jourde, inscribed by name on the reverse of this carte de visite, served as the Paris Commune’s delegate to Finance, elected to the Commission des Finances on March 29, 1871 before taking sole charge of the post on April 20. The sitter poses seated with arms folded, photographed by Ernest Appert at his Paris studio, 24 Rue Taitbout. Appert built his reputation photographing figures connected to the Commune, later compiling a number of these portraits into a widely circulated series.

Jourde sits with arms crossed over a dark frock coat and waistcoat buttoned to the collar, a cravat knotted beneath a high white shirt collar. His full beard and side-parted hair are rendered in sharp detail, and pale gloves are visible tucked beneath his folded arms. He is seated in a plain wooden chair, turned slightly to face the camera directly.

As delegate to Finance, Jourde was credited with maintaining the Commune’s payroll for the National Guard through careful management of the Bank of France, work that kept close to 500,000 Parisians provisioned during the siege. He resigned the post on May 2, 1871, arrested weeks later and sentenced to deportation to New Caledonia, from which he escaped in 1874 alongside Henri Rochefort.

The reverse is signed in ink, “Jourde,” over the printed studio imprint of E. Appert, Peintre Photographe, 24 Rue Taitbout, Paris, noting his standing as photographer to the Corps Législatif and the Magistrature, with four silver medal marks dated 1853, 1855, 1859, and 1867.