The scene shows a group of domestic animals next to a dark pond, while in the mid-distance a herdsman and his female companion, seated on a donkey, drive home their cattle at the end of the day, while rain menaces in the sky from the right. The compositional format, with one side built up with trees and a mossy bank opening onto a distant view, is typical of Pynacker’s small-scale compositions, as is the sunset, which illuminates the whole with golden light. The artist emphasises the contrasts of light and shade, using them to define the different planes of the composition and to highlight picturesque elements such as the calligraphic traceries of foliage, the craggy bark of a tree, the curling edges of a cabbage leaf or the petals of a flower.