This commemorative carte depicts the five Jesuit fathers of the Rue de Sèvres community executed as hostages during the Paris Commune’s final days in May 1871, published by A. Josse, éditeur, at Rue de Sèvres, 31. A ribbon banner across the top reads “Ibant Gaudentes” (“They went rejoicing”), framing an oval portrait of RP Olivaint, superior of the community, above four further medallions of his fellow martyrs.

The design presents five oval engraved portraits: the central image of Father Olivaint wearing a biretta, flanked below by Fathers Ducoudray and de Bengy, and beneath them Fathers Clerc and Caubert, one bearded, the rest clean-shaven, each framed within a scrolling foliate border topped by a cross and rosary. An IHS Jesuit monogram sits between the lower medallions, with fleur-de-lis ornament at the base.

Fathers Olivaint, Ducoudray, de Bengy, Clerc, and Caubert were arrested in early April 1871 as hostages of the Commune. Ducoudray and Clerc were shot at La Roquette prison on May 24, while Olivaint, Caubert, and de Bengy were executed two days later with dozens of other hostages at the Rue Haxo in Belleville. Their remains were later gathered in a chapel dedicated to their memory at the Jesuit house on Rue de Sèvres, and all five were beatified in 2023.

The reverse is inscribed in pencil, “Jesuit Martyrs / Paris Commune / 1871 / Shot May 24 & 26 1871,” beneath the printed publisher’s imprint “A. Josse, éditeur, rue de Sèvres, 31,” with the archival notations “20DCXZ,” “11/27/05,” and “Eb.”