Karl Friedrich Lessing, the German Romantic painter, is portrayed in a three-quarter bust CDV in pure left profile, showing the artist in middle age in a dark frock coat and white shirt with a black cravat, his features clean-shaven with dark hair swept back from a broad forehead. The composition is tightly framed, the profile view presenting Lessing's strong aquiline features against a plain light ground, with his arms crossed at the lower frame. No photographer's imprint appears on the card.

The printed catalog number 1229 appears on the reverse alongside the designation Lessing. (Maler.), identifying this as part of a commercial portrait series of notable figures issued by a publisher or distributor. The front mount bears no additional identification, the profile pose and style of dress consistent with a sitting from the 1860s.

Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880) was a leading painter of the Düsseldorf School and one of the foremost German artists of the Romantic era, celebrated for large-scale historical and landscape paintings including The Hussite Sermon and Castle on the Rhine. He served as director of the Karlsruhe Kunsthalle from 1858 until his death and was a pivotal figure in transmitting the traditions of German Romantic painting to the next generation of European artists.

The reverse bears the printed catalog notation 1229. Lessing. (Maler.) with dealer code X 90.