The subject of this eighteenth-century scene is taken from Oliver Goldsmith's novel 'The Vicar of Wakefield' (1761–1762). A group of figures are gathered in a sunny Italianate garden by a lion-headed fountain below a wooded hill. The central character is Dr Primrose, an elderly man in breeches and a jacket; he is seated in an ornate wheeled chair, draped in ermine and placed on a carpet. Surrounding Primrose are his family; to the left sitting on the carpet his son, Moses, in a white shirt and holding what might be a flute, to the right kneels one of his daughters in a pink sack-back dress and behind the chair another daughter in a yellow dress stands holding a green parasol. In the background on the right, an elderly female servant approaches, holding a tray and bowl.