Portrait of Empress Eugénie by Eugène Disderi.
 Albumen print, business card format
 An iconic example of Second Empire photography, this carte-de-visite was highly prized as a collector's item or souvenir at the time. Disdéri captured the elegance and prestige of Empress Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III, thus contributing to the spread of her image throughout Europe.
 Eugène Disderi (1819-1889) invented the carte-de-visite portrait in 1854. He developed a multi-lens camera that allowed for multiple exposures on a single negative, thus reducing production costs. He thereby contributed to popularizing photography and disseminating carte-de-visite photographs.