A powerful, winged male figure with streaming white hair and beard seizes a twisting, pale-skinned woman in midair, his muscular arms wrapped tightly around her as she arches backward in resistance. The man's face is set in a fierce, determined expression, his brow furrowed and mouth tense, while the woman's head is thrown back, her eyes closed and lips parted, her golden hair cascading in thick braids. Her right arm flings upward, fingers splayed, as if in protest or alarm, while her left arm is bent behind her, pressed against the man's shoulder.

A vivid red drapery billows around the woman's back and legs, its folds painted with bold, sweeping brushstrokes that catch the light and contrast with the cooler flesh tones. The background is a stormy, dark sky, lending a sense of drama and turbulence to the scene, with the figures illuminated from above and to the left, their bodies modeled in strong, golden light against deep shadow. The putto at lower left looks upward, its face animated and mouth open, while another at lower right reaches toward its companion, their wings rendered in feathery, delicate strokes.

The composition is tightly packed, with the main figures dominating the center and their limbs radiating outward, creating a swirling sense of movement and urgency. The artist uses strong contrasts of light and shadow, especially on the man's muscular torso and the woman's smooth back, to heighten the physicality and emotional intensity of the abduction. The flesh is painted with a creamy, luminous quality, while the drapery and wings are rendered in broader, more textured strokes. Boreas Abducting Oreithyia is a mythological painting by Peter Paul Rubens, dated to 1620.