A bridge and river over a sunset in the background divide the landscape in depth. At the center of the foreground, three shepherds, seven head of cattle and two goats are framed by copses of woods on the right and left.

Light and Nature are the true protagonists of this composition, giving it a dramatic feeling which Lorraine with replace with an elegant and classical serenity in his later works.

This work may have been painted for the Buen Retiro Palace of Felipe IV (1605-1665), and is a companion to the work on which its formal composition depends: The Return of the Herd (P2260), which is also in the Prado Museum Collection.