In this painting, executed during his stay in Italy, Bramer has portrayed a night scene. Painting directly onto the slate support, he has left some areas of ground and sky in reserve, thus making use of the slate’s natural colour as a base tone. The artist has populated the dark outdoor setting with two groups of herdsmen and their charges. For such a potentially peaceful scene, the atmosphere is remarkably febrile: in the closer group, on the left, the man sitting on a rock points and earnestly addresses the woman carrying a shallow tub on her head. An animated conversation seems also to be taking place between the members of the other group, gathered near a campfire on the right.