Bennet depicts the review of troops that Karl XIV Johan organized at Ladugårdsgärdet in Stockholm, in order to honour czar Nicolaus I during his visit in 1838. The painting, however, is not just about warlike exercises, but also shows the nearness to the citizens. Several famous people are included among the spectators to the right in the foreground, among others Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Esaias Tegnér and the artist Per Krafft the younger.