Mayor Jean Guiton on the Steps of the Town Hall Exhorting His Fellow Citizens Not to Surrender

This nineteenth-century painting, attributed to **Pierre-Louis-Omer Charlet**, depicts mayor **Jean Guiton** haranguing the inhabitants of **La Rochelle** from the steps of the Town Hall during the siege of 1627-1628, surrounded by figures symbolising the suffering of the besieged population — including Madame de Maison-Neuve and her children, and Guiton's own dying daughter in his wife's arms. This dramatic composition illustrates the resolve of the mayor, who took office on 2 May 1628 vowing to 'pierce the heart of the first man to speak of surrender,' and the extreme famine that struck the city before its capitulation on 26 October 1628.