Le commandant de Châteauneuf-de-Randon dépose les clefs de la ville sur le cercueil de Du Guesclin

This illustration by Alphonse de Neuville, made around 1880, depicts a famous episode connected with the death of Bertrand du Guesclin during the siege of Châteauneuf-de-Randon in 1380. The scene shows the constable’s coffin or body placed beneath a tent, surrounded by knights, men-at-arms, and banners, while an opposing commander comes to hand over or place the keys of the town upon his coffin. The image thus emphasizes a posthumous act of surrender filled with solemnity, in which military victory is symbolically attributed to the French leader even after his death. Through its theatrical composition, the contrast between the dark interior of the tent and the busy camp visible in the background, the work stresses both martial honor, the heroic memory of Du Guesclin, and the funerary dignity of the moment. Produced centuries after the events, it belongs to the nineteenth-century tradition of historical reconstruction and contributes to the national legend surrounding the constable of Charles V.