The artist takes the viewer to the end of the 18th century. A picture of an army parade unfolds on the winter parade ground. Emperor Paul I in a company of two sons on horseback watching what is happening. Horsemen arrogantly look at a group of soldiers and officers. One of the servicemen, stretched out and tore off the cocked hat, froze, numb with servility and horror in front of the monarchs.
In the foreground, Benoit painted a barrier. This object in the picture is not accidental – it symbolically closes the way out to the emperor: in the background, against the background of the gloomy skyline, the fatal facade of the unfinished Mikhailovsky castle, where in 1801 as a result of the conspiracy Paul I will be killed by officers.
Related Paintings 
Chinese pavilion “Revnivets” by Alexander Benois 
Pond in the park by Alexander Benois 
Versailles. The King’s Walk by Alexander Benois 
Invalid, submitting a petition to Napoleon on the parade of the Guards before the palace of the Tuileries in Paris by Horace Vernet 
Greenhouse. Versailles by Alexander Benois 
Palace in the moonlight by Alexander Benois 
Versailles, Louis XIV feeds fish by Alexander Benois 
The King’s Walk by Alexander Benois
Chinese pavilion “Revnivets” by Alexander Benois Pond in the park by Alexander Benois Versailles. The King’s Walk by Alexander Benois Invalid, submitting a petition to Napoleon on the parade of the Guards before the palace of the Tuileries in Paris by Horace Vernet Greenhouse. Versailles by Alexander Benois Palace in the moonlight by Alexander Benois Versailles, Louis XIV feeds fish by Alexander Benois The King’s Walk by Alexander Benois