The Ship

A girl in a red dress with a lace-trimmed hem stands barefoot beneath a tree on the left, absorbed in folding a small white paper boat. Behind her, packed shoulder to shoulder, a menagerie of animals watches: a stag, horse, donkey, cow, goats, dogs, a cat, sheep, rabbits, chickens, geese, and doves crowd together against a hillside and pale blue sky, as if summoned by her presence.

The palette is somber and earthy overall, with the animals rendered in muted browns, creams and greys against dark foliage, set off by the single bright note of the girl's red dress. Light falls softly from the upper right, modeling the girl's figure and the nearest animal heads while the crowd behind recedes into shadow, giving the scene a quiet, dreamlike stillness despite the crowding of bodies.