Audience des Ambassadeurs de Siam à Fontainebleau was commissioned by the state in 1864 and exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1865, where it hung in the Salle d'Honneur with other imperial commissions. The visit of the ambassadors, on 27 June 1861, acknowledged the recently forced opening of the Siamese ports to western traders. Gérôme was at the reception with Meissonier and they are portrayed at the far right of the picture. Various members of the ambassadorial mission and the entourage sat briefly for Gérôme and some he sent to Nadar's photography studio. Several drawings and sketches are known.