Carte-de-visite full length portrait of Grand Duke Ludwig IV. The subject is shown standing, in three quarter view, facing towards the right of the image. He is wearing military uniform adorned with several medals and insignia. In his right hand he is holding his helmet, and his left hand is placed on the hilt of his sword. In the background of the studio setting there is a trompe l'oeil painting of a window on the left and a panelled dado rail on the right. On the left hand side of the scene there is a piece of carved wooden furniture.

Ludwig was the son of Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia. In 1862, Ludwig married Princess Alice, the third child of Queen Victoria, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. The couple had seven children.