All the allies of the Great War

The Panthéon contained over 4000 war heroes – most of whom had not survived – and another 5000 portraits of prominent wartime figures from France and allied nations. New figures were added regularly, which were painted from photographs or from live portrait sittings. The continuously changing developments of the war meant that the artists needed to make frequent revisions in composition to keep the painting up to date.

When the Republic of China joined the war in 1916, it could not do so militarily for strategic reasons. Instead, China provided thousands of laborers to the allies on the Western Front who would dig the trenches, work in the war industry, clean up minefields, etc. The Panthéon was adjusted to include a group of Chinese laborers in the painting to recognize their contribution to the war effort. Then-president of China, Yuan Shikai, and ambassador to France, Hu Weide were also included.

In this image however, the Chinese laborers seem to be missing… Where did they go?