A bust-length portrait of General Jean-Joseph Frédéric Albert Farré fills this albumen carte-de-visite, produced sometime during or after his tenure as France's Minister of War, a post he held from December 1879 through November 1881. Farré was born in Valence on 15 May 1816 and rose to the rank of général de division, and the photograph captures him at a senior stage of his career, consistent with his appointment to the Freycinet and Ferry cabinets.

Farré wears a dark French general officer's tunic with braided frogging at the chest and striped shoulder detailing; a heavily embroidered kepi with triple-stripe crown sits firmly on his head. A cluster of decorations, including what appears to be a cross of the Legion of Honor, is pinned at his collar. His thick white mustache and goatee and his direct, composed gaze lend the portrait an air of command authority.

Farré entered the École Polytechnique in 1835 and built a distinguished military career that included service with the Army of Metz in 1870, from which he escaped at the capitulation to offer his services to the Tours delegation. On 29 December 1879, with the formation of the first Freycinet cabinet, he received the portfolio of the Ministry of War. The mount features a yellow stock with red and yellow border rules, and no photographer's imprint is visible. The reverse is inscribed in ink "Général Farre / ancien Kriegsminister" ("General Farré / former War Minister") and in pencil "Gen. Jean Joseph Fréderic FARRE," with a catalog notation reading "5/18/10 / 10ABBE / Eb."