An unusual original photograph of the Italian tenor Giuseppe La Puma, dressed as Kyoto from Mascagni's opera Iris. The composer pens a one-bar quotation from the opera in the upper right corner, under which he signs and writes Perfetta!. In an elaborate double mat with decorative cutouts.

Iris premiered in 1898 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. It was Mascagni's first collaboration with the librettist Luigi Illica and remains one of his more popular operas today. Although La Puma did not sing in the premiere cast, he must have performed in an early production, as this photograph was signed within seven years of the first performance.