[1] [2] It depicts the scene at Laffrey near Grenoble on 7 March 1815 when Napoleon, having escaped from Elba, is acclaimed by the men of the 7th Regiment of the Line.

Then in the army of Louis XVIII, the regiment led by Charles de la Bédoyère, defected en masse to Napoleon's cause.

Their rallying to him was a significant milestone on Napoleon's triumphant march on Paris, launching the Hundred Days campaign.

Charles de la Bédoyère was later executed following the defeat of Napoleon's at the Battle of Waterloo and the Allied Occupation of Paris.

By the time the painting was produced, Napoleon was in exile on the Atlantic island of Saint Helena in the custody of the British Army.