"Light (and wind, to judge by the clouds) comes from the left in all of the Dulwich Cuyps, and this is no exception. The two goats in the left foreground were copied from drawings executed by Cuyp's father, used for engravings in the book Diversa Animalia Quadrupedia of 1641.
The painting probably dates from around the same time, when Cuyp was still very much under the influence of his master Jan van Goyen. His teacher’s almost monochrome palette and preference for a low horizon are reflected here."