In this painting, the artist has created a very wide depth of field, as the horizon line nearly traces the center of the canvas. There are three main subjects, all explicitly masculine figures on a spot of dirt spanning most of the foreground. Two of the men face towards eachother, the far right suggesting eye contact with the subject just to his left who suggests a diverted glance slightly lower than that of the further and has a dog at his feet. The man all the way to the left faces the ground almost directly at his feet, or perhaps closer to those of the man in front of him and is represented with noticeably darker skin than the two with engaged glances. The area behind them is just a narrow strip of green grassy hills so far off in the distance it lends to a drastically lower altitude. The upper half of the image consists of a light blue sky and the upper halves of the subjects.
Upon further examination of the painting, the situation of the men to oneanother lends itself to a vast array of evaluations. The man to the left seems to be a slave to the man in front of him, who seems to be an aristocrat out for a walk. The landscape in the background lends itself to an early American-or Victorian era English-lanscape, as do the garments worn by the subjects. The man to the far right seems, however to be a wandering peasant, all the happier to see anyone on his endless journey of life. The wandering glance of the aristocrat suggests that he is apprehensive to carry a conversdasion with such a heathon.
I personally like this image as it speaks to me in many ways. The landscape in the background is remeniscent of that of my early childhood, which evokes a happy feeling. More than the hills, however, the men speak to me. The rag-muffin seems to chuckle and wish the two men a nice day, or perhaps comment on the fitness of their canine companion. The particular peculiarity lies in the two mens responses, as one seems to look down upon the peasant as a minion, but his companion looks down as if a minion of the peasant himself.
