A muscular young man in a red drapery stands at the center, his back to the viewer, raising a sword high above his head as he prepares to strike. His left hand grips a wooden staff, and his head is turned toward his intended target, a seated, older man who slumps beneath a tree to the right. The older figure, nearly nude except for a blue cloth, bends forward in sleep or exhaustion, his head resting on his chest and his eyes closed.

A white cow with dark spots stands to the left, its head turned outward and its large eyes directed toward the viewer, adding a sense of tension to the scene. The background opens onto a lush, wooded landscape under a sky streaked with clouds and golden light, with rolling hills and dense trees receding into the distance. A narrow stream glimmers near the lower right, bordered by rocks and plants, reflecting the sky above.

The figures are set at the base of a broad tree whose twisting trunk and branches frame the upper right of the composition. The artist uses strong contrasts of light and shadow to model the bodies, highlighting their muscular forms and the folds of their drapery. The paint is applied with energetic, visible brushstrokes, especially in the rendering of flesh and foliage, giving the scene a sense of movement and immediacy.

Details such as the veins on the figures’ arms and the delicate leaves in the foreground are rendered with remarkable precision. The composition leads the viewer from the tense action at the center outward to the tranquil, detailed landscape beyond. Mercury and Argus is created by Peter Paul Rubens and dated 1637. The museum’s description places the work’s creation between 1636 and 1638.