Jean-Baptiste Millière, born December 13, 1817, and executed on May 26, 1871, was a French journalist and deputy whose portrait appears here as an albumen print CDV, almost certainly produced circa 1870. The vignette bust composition, plain mount, and unadorned reverse are consistent with French commercial studio practice of the late Second Empire period, and no photographer's imprint is present.

Millière is shown in a three-quarter bust pose, his gaze directed slightly upward and to his left, conveying an air of resolve. He wears a dark frock coat over a white shirt with a broad turndown collar and a wide cravat tied loosely at the throat. His dark hair falls in loose waves to the ear, and a full, downward-curved mustache frames his upper lip. The vignette softly dissolves the shoulders into the pale background, a technique favored by Parisian portrait studios of the period.

Born in Lamarche-sur-Saône, Millière trained as a lawyer, served as a deputy, led a democratic socialist movement under the Second Republic, and directed the newspaper *La Marseillaise* before the fall of the Empire. During the Paris Commune of 1871, he wrote for the newspaper *La Commune* and was one of the organizers and leaders of the Republican Alliance of Departments. He was shot on the steps of the Panthéon by order of Captain Garcin on May 26, 1871, during the Versailles army's suppression of the Commune.

Inscribed in pencil on the reverse: "Millière" (upper line) and "Jean-Baptiste Millière / Paris Commune" (center). Additional notations read "6/26/10," "COLAC/," and "Eb" (lower margin). The subject's name is also written in ink in a period cursive hand on the lower front mount below the image.