The painting technique used does not correspond to that of the “macchia” style, which proceeds by combining colours, but rather makes use of overlapping and sfumato. The work was exhibited at the first Biennale in 1921 under the name Cavalleggeri e Bovi (Cavalrymen and Oxen), in 1927 as Manovre di artiglieria (Artillery Manoeuvres) and was purchased without the mediation of Ferruccio Stefani. Set in a country road that the painter depicts on other occasions, with its row of houses, wall and cypress tree, it is populated by three figures of soldiers and a child guarding animals, shown from behind, according to a device that gives depth to the work and allows the observer to identify with the scene being contemplated.