General Edouard Jean Etienne Deligny (1815–1902) is depicted here in a full-length standing portrait on an albumen carte de visite, produced at the Paris studio of André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, whose imprint appears both at the top and bottom of the mount face. Disdéri operated at 8, Boulevard des Italiens, Paris, where he established one of the capital's most important photographic studios and where he had patented the carte-de-visite format. The portrait dates to the Second Empire period, consistent with Deligny's documented command of the 1st Division of the Imperial Guard.

Deligny wears a dark infantry general's tunic with double epaulettes, a row of brass buttons down the front, and braided cuff embroidery, with a white waist sash and a large breast star of a senior order of decoration. He stands with his left hand resting on a carved studio pedestal draped with tasseled fringe, his right hand holding his bicorne hat at his side, with a tufted studio chair and a draped curtain completing the background.

Deligny rose to the rank of divisional general and Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, having distinguished himself principally during the French conquest of Algeria, where he served for nearly thirty years, and later in command of a division of the Imperial Guard during the War of 1870.

The reverse bears a pencil inscription reading "Deligny" at upper left, followed by notations referencing "Voltigeurs" and "1st division Imperial Guard," a large flourished red ink signature, and a fuller pencil inscription in another hand reading "Edouard Jean Etienne Deligny, commander of the 1st division of the Imperial Guard, General, 12.12.1815 – 12.2.1902." The studio imprint on the reverse reads: "Paris, 8, Boulevard des Italiens."