Potter’s agrarian subjects reflect the importance of agriculture in the seventeenth-century Dutch economy. By describing farm workers and their animals with such care, Potter emphasised the close connection of his subjects with the earth and invested them with an aura of heroic grandeur. This sense of monumentality is shown here by the use of a low viewpoint to accentuate the size of the animals and the milkmaid who stand motionless, silhouetted against a pale sky. The work is also remarkable for its description of texture: by applying thick white or light yellow paint to the smooth coats of the animals, for example, Potter mimicked the appearance of individual patches of hair and wool. A final picturesque note is added by the delicate touch of a white butterfly on a red flower just above the artist’s signature.