General Justin Clinchant (1820–1881) is depicted here in a full-length standing portrait on an albumen-print carte-de-visite by Michel Berthaud, the French photographer active at 9 Rue Cadet in Paris. The image dates to the 1870s, consistent with the studio's active period and the Silver Medal imprint on the reverse, which the back mount shows was awarded in 1878. The front mount bears Clinchant's autograph signature in ink below the image.

The general stands in full French army dress uniform with double epaulettes, a sash belt at the waist, and heavily decorated chest: a large Maltese-style cross, a star-burst order, and a row of campaign and service medals are all clearly visible. He holds a plumed kepi in his left hand and carries a sword or baton tassel in his right, posed beside a desk with books, against a plain studio ground.

Clinchant entered the army from Saint-Cyr in 1841, served in Algeria and the Crimea, and greatly distinguished himself at the assault on the Malakoff in September 1855. He escaped captivity after the fall of Metz, was appointed to command the Twentieth Army Corps as a general of division, and later commanded the Fifth Army Corps against the Commune before being appointed Military Governor of Paris in 1879.

The reverse bears the ornate Berthaud studio imprint with the Daguerre and Niépce medallion and the text "Médaille d'Argent 1878," with the studio address 9 Rue Cadet, Paris, and branches listed at Abbeville and Dreux. Inscribed in pencil on the reverse: "Clinchant" (surname only, in a second hand), and below in a fuller hand, "General Justin Clinchant." Catalog notations in pencil read: "6/27/10," "L08CD1," and "Eb."