The scene stretches panorama-like across a snowy mountain landscape. A column of troops winds its way to the horizon. The uniforms and arms are accurately depicted, but the scene as a whole is a fantasy. Charles XII’s body was not carried on an open bier, but in a coffin pulled on a wagon. The artist has combined the return of the body with the story of General Armfeldt’s disastrous retreat across the Jämtland mountains.