Félix Vallotton made this drawing in 1894 for the newspaper “Le Rire”. It is a preparatory version of the drawing that appeared on the cover of the 1 December 1894 issue, entitled “Bleus d’aujourd’hui”. The title “En route vers la caserne” on the back of the picture, which was written by Jacques Rodrigues-Henriques, Vallotton’s son-in-law, is fictitious. The crowd depicted in the drawing does not consist of soldiers on their way to the barracks, but of workers on their way to the factory with a bowl under their arm.