The painting shows the moment when events turned to victory.
The Confederates and their allies have just emerged unexpectedly out of Galm Wood between Salvenach and Burg, breached the Grünhag (a ditch and palisade entrenchment hurriedly erected by the Burgundians), and entered the enemy camp. They are charging downhill and find themselves on either side of the Bois Domingue hilltop, on which Charles has erected his camp. As the vanguard leaves Charles’s camp behind, the main body passes through it, with the rearguard also advancing.
Thus the Swiss have foiled the strategy of Charles the
Bold, who had prepared to meet them on open ground higher
up, and had only a small section of his army in position
here.
In Prehl, Burgundian arquebusiers are still fighting as
a unit and the enemy artillery continues to fire salvoes
at the town.
In the camps surrounding Murten the resting troops have
yet to realise the scale of the events unfolding; some
are hurriedly donning their armour. Those who have fully
grasped the situation take flight in panic.