The Defense of Champigny

In this battle picture, shown in the Salon of 1879, Détaille depicts an incident that he had observed on December 2, 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War. General Farons soldiers are shown fortifying their new position at the town of Champigny-sur-Marne, near Paris, and breaking openings in the wall for cannons. General Faron is at the left, talking to an old gardener. The artist painted a replica of the picture in 1879 (private collection) and returned to the subject for a huge panorama of the battle (now destroyed) that he executed with de Neuville in 1882.