Patrice de Mac Mahon, 1st Duke of Magenta (1808–1893), one of the most decorated soldiers of the Second Empire, is portrayed here in a three-quarter-length albumen carte de visite by the Parisian firm of Mayer and Pierson. The image presents him in full dress uniform, and the mount's printed signature "Mg Mac Mahon" beneath the image, along with the studio credit "L. Pierson, Phot.," confirm the identification. Napoleon III came to prefer the Mayer and Pierson studio, and Pierson created numerous portraits of the French Imperial family during the apex of the Second Empire, making this portrait entirely consistent with a commission from within the highest military circles of the era.

Mac Mahon wears a dark double-breasted general officer's tunic with ornate gold epaulettes, a broad diagonal sash crossing his chest from shoulder to hip, and a cluster of decorations at his left breast including what appears to be the Legion of Honor. His right hand rests at his side while his left holds the braided hilt of a sword partially visible at the lower frame. His trimmed dark mustache and composed, slightly turned three-quarter gaze lend the portrait an air of command authority characteristic of official military portraiture of the 1860s.

Given command of the 2nd Corps of the Army of Italy, Mac Mahon was victorious at Magenta on 4 June 1859, and on that same day was named Marshal of France and Duke of Magenta. He later served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1875 and as the first president of the Third Republic, from 1875 to 1879. The studio designation on the reverse, "Photographes de S.M. l'Empereur," places production firmly within the reign of Napoleon III, dating this example to before 1870.

The reverse bears the printed imprint "Maison Mayer and Pierson, Photographes de S.M. l'Empereur, Boulevard des Capucines, 3, Paris," along with the printed text in French: "Les Clichés étant conservés indéfiniment, on peut toujours se procurer de nouvelles épreuves de Cartes and Portraits sans reposer" (The negatives being preserved indefinitely, one may always obtain new prints of Cards and Portraits without re-sitting). The recto mount carries "Déposé" at lower left and "Garanti d'après nature" (Guaranteed from life) at lower right.