Taunay here represents one of the most popular Restoration legends of the life of Henri IV , which more than somewhat idealised the French king. Henri was described as kind and good, responsive to the needs of the ordinary people, interested in their problems and their welfare. In this painting we see the royal suite of courtiers out hunting frozen in horror as they see the king approaching, deep in conversation with a peasant whom he has allowed to get up behind him on the royal horse. The treatment of the landscape reveals a synthesis of the traditions of Dutch and Flemish art - in the curious details and captivating narrative - and the conventions of the classical landscape - the sketchy figures, the use of trees to form "wings" leading towards the centre, and the building up of depth through layers of horizontal planes.