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Delacroix took the subject for this painting from his recollections of his journey through Algeria and Morocco in 1832. He depicted the tense mood of the hunters as they lie in wait beneath the luxurious branches of a tree, just at the last moment before they take their prey. The weapon in the hands of one of the hunters and the unsheathed sabre lying on the ground emphasise that the final moment is not far off. The inner dramatism so typical of Romanticism is created through a dynamic rhythm of wavy lines , through the antithesis of the light and dark masses , through contrasts between complementary colours and also thanks to the vibrant paint surface of the canvas.