The painting depicts a scene on the Rue Mosnier, now the Rue de Berne [fr], which is overlooked by Manet's studio at 4 Rue de Saint-Pétersbourg [fr]. It was painted from an upstairs window, with tricolour flags hanging from the buildings along the road, above passing pedestrians and carriages. In the foreground is a man with a ladder, and a one-legged man on crutches, possibly a veteran wounded in the Franco-Prussian War. Behind a fence to the left is rubble from building works to extend the Gare Saint-Lazare. The painting measures 65.4 cm × 80 cm (25.7 in × 31.5 in) and it is signed and dated in the lower left corner, "Manet / 1878". This work echoes the composition of another Manet painting of 1878, Road-menders in the Rue Mossnier. Another 1878 Manet painting of a similar scene of the Rue Monsier, decorated with flags, is held in a private collection.