Vité, named in a period ink inscription on the mount as chief of the pétroleurs of Paris, is the subject of this carte de visite albumen print from the aftermath of the 1871 Paris Commune. No photographer's imprint is visible, though a later pencil note on the reverse cites a published Ernest Eugène Appert photograph of the sitter.

He sits half length, body turned slightly, gaze lifted up and away from the camera. A loose pale work smock with gathered shoulders falls open at the neck over a lighter shirt. His wavy hair is brushed back, against a plain backdrop.

The reverse note names Vité among the Tuileries arsonists. Appert gained access to the Versailles prison after the Commune fell, issued many prisoner portraits as cartes de visite, and also used the faces in his Crimes de la Commune photomontages.

metmuseum

Mount inscribed in ink, in Portuguese: "Vité - chefe dos petroleiros de Paris." Reverse in pencil: "Vité, um dos incendiários das Tulherias, em Paris (v. fot. de Appert num livro da BN de Paris sobre os retratos da colecção)."