Tony Moilin, born Jules Antoine Moilin on May 21, 1832, in Cosne-sur-Loire, was a physician, socialist militant, and member of the Paris Commune, portrayed here in an albumen print carte-de-visite by E. Appert of Paris, almost certainly made in connection with Appert's well-documented photographic campaign against the Communards around 1871. The Appert studio specialized in portrait photography of political figures of all persuasions, including sovereigns, nobles, deputies, senators, and magistrates.

The subject sits in a three-quarter view, his dark frock coat open over a matching waistcoat with a chain at the buttonhole. He wears a loosely knotted silk bow tie over a white shirt with a turned-down collar, and carries a mustache and goatee with sideburns framing a direct, composed gaze. The pose is informal, with one arm resting at his side, against a plain studio backdrop.

A student and later assistant of Claude Bernard, Moilin distinguished himself in 1865 through his dedication during a cholera epidemic and his care for the poor in Parisian dispensaries. In 1871 he served as surgeon-major of the 193rd battalion of the National Guard, and had earlier been one of the 140 signatories of the Red Poster calling for the formation of the Commune. Arrested on May 27, 1871, he was brought before a military tribunal at the Luxembourg, where after a summary interrogation he was condemned and shot.

The reverse bears the printed studio imprint of E. Appert, "Peintre Photographe de S.M. la Reine d'Espagne, de S.A.I. le Grand Duc Constantin," at 24 Rue Taitbout, Paris, with four silver medal medallions dated 1853, 1855, 1859, and 1867, and the designations "Photographe du Corps Législatif" and "Photographe de la Magistrature." Inscribed in pencil at the top of the reverse: "Tony Moilin."