A broad rainbow arcs across a dramatic sky, its pale light cutting through dark clouds and illuminating the distant slopes and water below. The scene is set in a mountainous landscape, with steep, rugged hills rising on both sides and receding into mist at the horizon. In the foreground, a small boat carrying two figures drifts on the still surface of the lake, dwarfed by the vastness of nature around them.

The water reflects the muted tones of the sky, with subtle ripples and a soft, silvery sheen that echoes the atmosphere above. Vegetation and rocky outcrops line the lower edge of the composition, painted in loose, textured strokes that suggest tangled undergrowth and wild terrain. Beyond the boat, a patchwork of fields and scattered trees stretches along the lake’s edge, rendered in green and ochre hues that catch the filtered sunlight.

The mountains are painted in deep greens and browns, their forms softened by mist and rain, with the rainbow’s arc creating a luminous division between shadow and light. Turner uses sweeping, energetic brushwork in the sky, blending clouds and rainbow into a swirling mass that conveys the movement of a passing shower. A faint cluster of small white buildings is visible along the far shoreline near the center of the image, nestled at the base of the hills.

In the lower left corner, tangled branches and foliage are silhouetted against the water, painted with rapid, broken lines. The upper right corner is dominated by a heavy, dark mass of cloud, with streaks of brown and grey blending into the mountains below. Light falls most strongly on a patch of green fields beneath the rainbow, creating a bright focal point amid the surrounding gloom.

The paint handling in the distant hills is soft and hazy, with edges dissolving into mist, while the foreground vegetation is rendered with sharper, more textured brushstrokes. The title, Buttermere Lake, with Part of Cromackwater, Cumberland, a Shower, identifies the location as Buttermere in Cumberland, with the weather event central to the scene. It is also known by its longer title, which emphasizes both the setting and the transient effect of a shower crossing the landscape.