Arrival of the German envoys at Belfort, February 16, 1871

A German staff officer, sent as an envoy, is brought into a village under siege, wearing a blindfold. Escorted by an armed mobile detachment, head held high, and followed by a trumpeter and envoy flag attached to a lance carried by an uhlan. The inhabitants of the besieged village come out of their bombarded houses and come running across the detachment's path. A woman in mourning, with her child in her arms, rushes toward the officer to hurl insults and shake her fist at him. In the background of the piece, between the archway and the ruins of a house, we can see the town's ramparts, occupied by the siege artillery.