By Eugênia Gorini Esmeraldo
The painting German Officers Pay Homage to Injured French Prisoners shows German officers profiled on the left, while French prisoners, some of them wounded and bandaged, proudly walk by on the rain-swept dirt road. The officers are saluting and the colors of the uniforms stand out on a rainy day in this frieze-like composition. In the background, other soldiers observe the scene with an air of respect. The scene is notably realistic, considering that the artist, himself a Frenchman, rendered a picture of his compatriots in defeat. The artist gave this painting as a gift to his physician friend Edmond Fournier, in 1904. The Masp Archives conserve letters and a photo of this painting which Detaille sent to his friend, containing a few remarks on the artwork. The photo was probably used for the cover of an exhibition catalogue, undated, at which the painting was featured as number 1, with the title “La Salue aux Blessés”.

— Eugênia Gorini Esmeraldo, 1998

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