A poster published in Lyon on 3, January 1784 introduces the automata and describes the "grotto" as followed:" The scenery is a Swiss landscape made of steep slopes with a sheepfold, a hut, a mill, a waterfall and a brook. A calf sucks at the udder of a cow which chews the cud, goats and sheeps graze and bleat and a dog watches the herd. A farmer goes out of his hut, he is sitting on a donkey. He goes through the landscape to the mill and then comes back on foot, leading his donkey which carries a bag. When he passes by, a dog barks.

A shepherd comes outside a cave, brings a flute to his lips and plays a prelude which echoes. Then he approaches his wakening wife who takes her guitar and accompanies him. The foreground of this place represents an orchestra with a building's façade at the edge. Under the portal a female farmer plays various minuets on a dulcimer while two young ladies dance in a precise and graceful way, the waterfalls and the fountain create a delusion and different birds sing in an aviary.

"Such a sophisticated piece of work must never have been repaired; it must have been falling into ruins and abandoned in a lumber room."