Victor Emmanuel II (1820–1878) is depicted here in full military dress, seated in a carved armchair in a commanding three-quarter pose. The albumen carte de visite was produced by Fratelli Alinari of Florence, who relocated to Via Nazionale 8 in 1863, placing the photograph firmly within the studio's active portrait period of the 1860s to 1870s. The image belongs to a body of royal portraiture the firm produced of the king, for which the studio at Via Nazionale became the preeminent venue.

The subject wears a dark military tunic with double rows of brass buttons, heavy aiguillettes across the left shoulder, and white lace cuffs, with a prominent star-shaped decoration at the chest alongside a row of campaign medals. His thick upturned mustache and pointed beard are rendered with sharp clarity against the plain sepia ground, and he holds a dress sword across his lap, its tasseled knot resting on his thigh.

Crowned King of Italy on 17 March 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was the first monarch of a unified Italian state since the sixth century, a reign that earned him the title "Father of the Fatherland." Fratelli Alinari, founded in Florence in 1852, is widely regarded as the oldest photography company in the world, and their portrait sessions with the king represent some of the most significant royal imagery of the Risorgimento era.

The reverse bears the studio's printed imprint reading "Fratelli Alinari, Firenze, Via Nazionale 8," a penciled notation reading "109 / 2," and two manuscript inscriptions: one in pencil reading "King of Italy," and a second in ink reading "Vittorio Emanuele / Re d'Italia" ("Vittorio Emanuele / King of Italy").